A Tale of Two
by SeraphOmega
Summary: How it began, how events twisted, and how fate decided the lives of two unfortunate souls, as well as those connected to them. Will they fight on, or will they fall? Let the fight for survival continue. [Multiple OC's, excessive violence, moderate Monster Hunter references and themes]
1. History of GEB

Terra. Its beauty is astounding. **Was** astounding, that is.

One day, a small creature came into creation. A tiny, pathetic-looking being.

And yet, the appearance of this creature signaled the beginning of the end.

Being low in population, they should've been destroyed fairly quickly. However, these beings were not of this world. What they killed and ate, they absorbed and adapted into their genes. Perhaps a better word would be _evolved._

These creatures ripped through every evolutional process, every genetic limitation, and continued onward. They grew in diversity, size, shape . . . and lethality. They had no limits, and no barriers could stop them. These godlike creatures were unstoppable. The humans call them Aragami - Demonic deity incarnate.

Aragami – beasts of which only death and destruction lie in their wake – have taken over as the dominant life form. No one knows where they came from, why they kill humans, or how they evolved so fast, and at this point in history, not many people care. Aragami come in many forms, and not even the best manmade weapon could hurt them.

Cities were destroyed, nations disbanded, humans slaughtered by the millions. There was no rest, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. It seemed like humanity's extinction was inevitable. . .

That is, until someone created a weapon called a God Arc. To summarize, a God Arc is what was formed when someone destroyed one of the weaker forms of Aragami, stole the object that kept their cells stabilized - an Aragami 's Core - and synthesized it with machinery. It is the only proven effective weapon against the Aragami.

This, however, came with its own problems. The materials used in a typical God Arc are cells from Aragami, called oracle cells, which are more destructive than the most virulent plague. A single touch to human skin spells doom for the infected individual. They transform, rather quickly, into Arigami themselves, and kill indiscriminately, whether its target is a best friend, a family member, a lover.

The need for protection against Arigami and Oracle Cells was vital, if humankind wanted to stall their extinction long enough to find a solution. Taking oracle cells, various chemicals, and genetics of various origins, humans created a possible "immunization", if you will.

Scientists called it the Bias Factor, and it was a dangerous gamble. It is injected into the bloodstream of an average human, and that builds up a resistance to the oracle cells.

Not quite safe from the infection, but not completely helpless either.

One problem among many was the Bias was experimental, unstable. It had an extremely low rate of success, and God Arcs had an ever changing "synchronize tune", to make a comparison. The Bias and the God Arc had to have the same 'tune' at the moment of contact between the weapon and the human, or the Bias would be rejected and infection would occur.

At first, perhaps only 1 out of every 20 escaped infection. As the new 'God Eaters', as they were called, fought the Arigami and stalled for time, the Bias Factor was upgraded, civilians injected, and the procedure for locating a Bias match improved. Humanity was beginning to fight back.

Statistics show that, of several age groups, those between the ages of 12 and 19 had the highest chance for Bias synchronization. Perhaps because, as they have yet to mature, their brains can grow to accept the synchronization easier, and even contribute to molding into a match? Regardless, this was the age group that was chosen as the main fighting force.

Unfortunately, humanity's days were still numbered. Over 95% of Terra's human population was killed, the last 5% scattered across the destroyed continents. They needed a way to regroup, dig in, and salvage what little supplies they had left.

Bases were built, reinforced with the Bias Factor and further protected with a large Bias-infused wall around the base, called an Anti-Arigami Wall. This did not, in any way, guarantee the survival of the human race. However, it did buy precious time. They needed a way to communicate; a command center, if you will.

Thus, Fenrir HQ was built. What was left of the world's governments was moved here, and the best defenses were built around it. This enabled the various Branches, scattered across the world, to communicate and know that "we really aren't alone. We aren't all that's left."

The humans who had paved the path to the future, the adults whom knew what humanity was facing, had entrusted it to the next generation. The children whom were protected before must rise and protect, now. People finally had hope. Hope in a brighter future, hope in a future at all.

But, I can't have this entire story being monologued in a history lesson, can I? Allow me to show you the stories of a few, special individuals. The stories of life, of death, of love, of loss, of heroism and darkness, and all the shades in between.

This is the story of Kinaia Tsumi and Kama Kotaku, two young children called to join the fight for survival. Far different lifestyles, far different lives. What will their tales bring forth?

What will be the next segment in this symphony of death and chaos?

* * *

A/N: This chapter is more of an outline, in case people don't know the specifics behind the GEB storyline. It's basically my retelling of Sakaki's lessons, and I like my wording better :P

Cheers~


	2. Initiation

A/N: This one pretty much rolled off my tongue. Enjoy~

Also, for future reference, Kinaia has the 7 (Serious) voice in-game, though the face/clothes are custom. Might change that later, I kinda like some of the outfits in the game.

* * *

In the southeast section of the Far East branch's Outer Ghetto, a gloomy-looking God Eater was walking with a young girl, headed in the direction of the Fenrir branch.

She was 16 years old this month, and her blue hair was bundled into a scruffy ponytail. She wore unassuming clothes – dark blue shorts, a gray long sleeve shirt – and she had a look of nervousness on her face.

The outer ghetto was her home; she knew everyone, everyone knew her, and besides the rare breach in the wall, excitement was at a minimum.

When there was a knock at her door, she assumed it wouldn't be much. _It could be Kota_, she thought, _he was always fun to be around_. But no, it was a man who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else.

He wore gray cargo pants, a yellow shirt, and a blue jacket with a hood. He had snow-colored hair, red eyes, and a look of gloom that felt contagious.

He spoke to her mother for a few seconds, and then said in a monotone voice "Come with me, Kinaia. Fenrir's taken an interest in you."

That quick, she went from wanting to watch Bugarally with her friend to walking with this silent stranger to the building that housed the protectors of the Far East Branch.

_Did I do something to get in trouble? Why would they call me? What's going to happen? _

Thoughts were zooming through Kinaia's head a million miles a second, and it feels more and more ominous because _this stranger won't at least tell her what's going on and_-

"We're here" The man said abruptly, and Kinaia realized as she was fretting away, they had already gotten to the doors of the facility.

"Oh, thank-" Kinaia started to say, but he already turned away and started walking off. "…you." She finished lamely.

She took a look around the building, in awe of what she saw. She had never ventured out of the Outer Ghetto, so she was amazed at how big this place looked.

The first floor had a counter with a kind-looking red haired girl behind it. There were benches and tables, people talking about things she had no interest in, and a man sitting in the corner selling something that was pretty popular, if the two teens buying from him were any judge.

There was a stairway that led to another floor above the counter, and there was an elevator to who knows where, a large gated door that she thought looked important, people relaxing on more benches, talking, laughing-

"You must be Kinaia Tsumi. You're late." A stern voice snapped Kinaia out of her daze, and she found the voice belonging to a tall woman dressed in white pants and a white button-up shirt that was halfway open.

"Um… Yes ma'am, that's me." Kinaia nervously said. _Maybe she can tell me what I'm here for._

"My name is Tsubaki Amamiya, and I am your advisor. If you want to survive long, then everything I say, you will reply with 'Yes'. Understood?" She said in the same tone.

Kinaia snapped off a quick "Yes ma'am", and then was led into the elevator, where it descended a few floors.

Kinaia thought Tsubaki might be able to shed some light on her questions, so she tentatively spoke out "Excuse me, ma'am, but what am I here for?"

Tsubaki thought for a few seconds, and then replied with "You are here because we have found a probable match for you. You will be tested, and be briefed if you pass."

Kinaia noticed she said 'if', and asked "What happens if I don't pass?"

She didn't get an answer, because right as she asked, the door opened into a wide room. There was a table of sorts in the middle, the walls were marked with holes, the sides of the room were slightly higher than the center, and there was a glass window on the opposite side of where she stood.

Kinaia turned to ask a question, but the elevator door closed, Tsubaki still inside it. Kinaia slowly turned back in the direction of the table-looking object, and out of nowhere a voice said "Sorry to have you brought in here so suddenly."

She looked at the window, and saw a human-shaped shadow, so assumed the mystery voice belonged to the mystery man. The voice continued.

"Let me welcome you to humankind's last fortress. Fenrir. You were brought here so we could test your compatibility as a member of the Anti-Aragami Punitive force, also known as Gods Eaters."

The man must've noticed how nervous Kinaia was, because a second later the voice spoke reassuringly "Please, try to relax a little. You'll get better results that way."

"When you're ready, stand in front of the case in the center of the room, and put your dominant hand on the handle." The voice told her, and then went silent.

She took a few deep, calming breaths, and walked to the object. As she got closer, she saw it wasn't a table, but actually a case that held the biggest weapon she had ever seen.

It had a slim blade, like a giant version of her father's old hunting blade. It also had two panels on either side of the weapon, and an ominous-looking orange orb surrounded by black. It almost looked . . . alive.

After what seemed like forever, she finally got to the side of the case and took a better look. There was a crescent-shaped opening on the side, right next to the handle. She put her hand through it, and grabbed hold of the handle.

Seconds later, the top of the case slammed shut with a loud crack, her hand now trapped inside the case. Only, it felt like . . . something brushed against her hand. Something grooved, like a tree root.

Then the case opened, and on her arm was a bright red cog-looking object. It fit snugly, but comfortably around her wrist.

The voice spoke again "Go ahead, lift it. See if it's light enough." So she lifted it, and was surprised that it felt like it weighed no more than her friend's baby sister. It had a bit of weight, but it wasn't a problem for her.

As she raised it, examining the cog, she spied a black tentacle move from the orange orb and insert itself into the cog. Instantly, she felt a strange, uncomfortable sensation in that arm . . . before seeing her hand, and the vines of black that lined it.

They were only there for a second, and they didn't appear again. She hoped she imagined it.

Other than the uncomfortable sensation, she wasn't feeling abnormal. No sickness, no pain, just pins and needles in her blade arm.

As she examined the cog – and the black vine now connecting it to the weapon – the voice spoke, sounding satisfied. "Congratulations. You are now the second of the Far East Branch's 'New-Type' Gods Eaters."

_Is that good? It sounds important. _She thought, openly relieved that she wasn't in trouble for whatever reason. The voice continued on.

"This concludes the Aptitude test. Now that we know you're a match, you'll be going for a medical checkup next." She sighed with relief, now that she knew she passed.

She twisted the blade so she was holding it pointed behind her, and looked at the glass as the voice continued, "Now then . . . I'd like you to wait in the main room before the elevator. Don't hesitate to tell anyone immediately if you start feeling . . . unwell."

"Yes, sir." Kinaia said, feeling immensely better than when she had walked in. She entered the elevator, and it automatically closed and started to ascend. _Guess he has elevator controls up there, too._

As the elevator rose, she started thinking about what was coming next. She was a Gods Eater now, so that means she'd get more responsibilities. No more getting protected, no more hiding from Aragami.

_You all protected me, so now it's my turn. I see it now._

As she had this realization, the doors to the elevator opened out to a new room, what looked like a tunnel with blades similar to hers lining the wall. She also saw a woman working at a control panel in the room.

From the grease marks on her thick, puffed-up pants, to the goggles on her face, Kinaia thought she might be taking care of the weapons.

The woman looked up when the elevator opened and saw Kinaia. She said "You must be the new Gods Eater. I'm Licca Kusunoki. I'm the mechanic in this branch, and the one who repairs all of the God Arcs. Nice to meet you." She finished with a warm grin.

Kinaia gave a small smile of her own and said "I'm Kinaia Tsumi, nice to meet you too." She lifted her blade a little bit, and asked "Do I give this to you, or something? The elevator led straight here."

Licca nodded and pointed to an empty space on the wall, where a slot was made for a weapon, saying "Yes, put it right there. I have to make sure it's fully repaired and prepped for combat, and I'll take care of that before today is over."

Kinaia did as she was told, then walked back into the elevator after a brief goodbye. The elevator ascended for a few seconds, then opened up into the main lobby. She glanced around, seeing new faces, and saw Tsubaki towering over two young men. One looked about as gloomy as the man who walked with her here, but the other . . .

"Oh, hey Kota! I didn't know you were here too!" Kinaia exclaimed, happy that her childhood friend was here.

"Kinaia? What're you doing here? Thought you were going to help your mom with cleaning?" Kota asked, equally surprised.

Before she could answer, Tsubaki turned to glare at her, and then said "Well, times change. You're both Gods Eaters now, so get used to the idea. Kinaia, you're to go to Doctor Sakaki's lab for further medical testing after these two here." She waved a hand to indicate the two boys.

"Yes ma'am" Kinaia and Kota answered, but the third boy stayed silent. He wore black jeans, a red shirt, and a black jacket. He had on a bandana over one eye, and managed to look even grumpier than the stranger from before.

"I'm Kinaia, what's your name?" She asked, trying to be polite. It looked like she wasn't going to get an answer after a few seconds of silence, but then the boy said "Kama." He had a low voice, like he had hit puberty recently.

Kama stood up, put his hands in his jacket pockets, and slowly shuffled to the elevator.

"I think he's exhausted. He told me he was transferred from the Mid-Western Branch late last night, never got a chance to sleep again." Kota broke into her thoughts. She nodded, and then asked "So how long have you been here?"

Kota made a 'harrumph' noise at the back of his throat, and said "Half a day, you?" She told him "About an hour, hour and a half."

They chatted for a few minutes, and then Kota left to get his checkup taken care of. Kinaia was sitting on the bench, wishing she could talk to someone, just to have something to do, when she saw Kama exit the elevator and stand in place, looking awkward.

She waved him over to the bench she was at, and when he sat down said "So, I heard you moved from the Mid-Western Branch. How's it like over there?" He was silent for a minute, and then said "It used to be fun and grassy, but the Aragami attacked and killed almost everyone. I've been a God Eater for a week, and my Arc was still being repaired when it happened."

He looked depressed, and Kinaia instantly regretted bringing up the topic. "I'm sorry that it happened, but you're better prepared now, right? It won't happen again." She tried maneuvering around the minefield without setting anything else off, and somewhat succeeded. He raised his head, had a fire in his eyes, and declared "You bet it won't happen again. Over my dead body."

Kinaia moved the conversation to something a bit less serious, and sooner than she thought, it was time for her checkup. She moved to the elevator, turned back, and chuckled a little bit upon seeing Kama's face buried in the table, his snores audible even across the room.

She went to the floor she needed to be on, passed a shy girl with a green outfit and pink hair who looked busy with paperwork, and entered the door farthest down the hall.

Kinaia was expecting a clean room, something to show the "doctor" bit of Sakaki's name, and was surprised by the clutter of books, sticky notes all over different walls, and a massive computer system dominating the middle of the room, a focused man wearing a thick robe at the controls.

"Hmm . . . You got here 273 seconds later than I expected. Not bad, but not good either." He sounded like the professor at her old school in the Outer Ghetto. Excitement in every word, precision with timing; Almost an exact duplicate. "Sorry I'm late, Doctor. Still working out where everything is in here." Kinaia replied, scratching her neck with embarrassment.

He replied "No need, I'm only teasing" with a smile. "My name is Doctor Paylor Sakaki, though you can either call me Doctor, Doc, or Sakaki. I'm in charge of Aragami technology R and D," he continued.

"Thank you, sir. So, what's this checkup going to be about?" Kinaia questioned. She really hoped it didn't involve needles . . .

"Just to check your vitals, synchronization levels, and make sure you don't get infected. Nothing big, and it shouldn't take longer than 600 seconds." Sakaki replied, getting up from the computer and grabbing his equipment.

After the checkup, Sakaki told her "Lie down on this bed, and go to sleep. It's to maintain your health, and you'll wake up in your own room in the Rookie bedrooms. A quick cat nap, perhaps about 10800 seconds."

As she laid down, she heard Sakaki say "Sweet dreams," and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

A/N: So? How was it? This is my first time actually going this long for a single chapter, and I'm quite proud of my work. Questions, comments, critiques, you know where the review button is~


	3. Pride

A/N: Damn, I'm on a roll.  
I'm not quite sure how I want to do this. Should I go back and forth between Kinaia's and Kama's PoV, or should I maintain my 'Kinaia/Narrator' style? Or, if someone has a better idea, do let me know :P

* * *

Kinaia slowly awoke to the sound of voices outside the room, and she realized she wasn't in Sakaki's workroom anymore.

She rubbed her eyes, let off a huge yawn, then looked around the surprisingly cozy room. Next to her bed, there was a dresser with her favorite ribbon attached to a note that said 'From Kota – Left this in your room, your mom thought you'd want it.' She grinned for a second, and then continued her observation of the room.

Next to the dresser was a large computer monitor, and she decided to check that out after she was out of this . . . comfy . . . bed . . .

Moving on, she saw a painting on the wall opposite her bed that depicted a green meadow with sunshine in the background. She liked the touch.

Next to that, against the last wall, was a small kitchen-like area. There were cabinets, a sink, a small fridge, and possibly something in it.

She got up, changed into a pair of white pants and a blue shirt, and checked out the computer first. Not much, but she saw an 'Equipment Request' feature. She checked it out, and discovered she could customize the blade she first got with weapons she gets later on.

She also discovered that the blade didn't only have a blade. It had a shield that could deploy with the blade, and what looked like a cannon was also included in the data. Apparently, by putting her hand on the orange orb, she could morph the blade into the cannon, and repeat the action to morph it back. Interesting.

She was interrupted in her studying by a knock at the door, and found the stranger from the first day on the other side. He told her "I'll show you around, so you don't get lost. This way." And walked off, not even waiting to see if she followed.

She hurried to catch up and said "Thanks, mister . . ." He grunted, and replied "Soma. Just Soma." She smiled and said "Thanks, Soma."

He showed her the various rooms in the facility. The cafeteria, which was currently moderately full for lunch; the training room, which had fake Aragami models and targets to shoot; the infirmary, to which he says "You're probably going to end up here a lot. Just a warning."

Finally, he ended the tour at the large gated door in the lobby. To this, he said "This is where you go when it's time to deploy. Grab your weapon from Licca downstairs, meet your team here, and then set out."

Her head hurt from all the different turns and stairs they used, but she nodded her understanding. She had to learn where to go and what to do, and do it fast in case of an emergency.

Soma nodded, and walked off to do whatever he left to do, and someone next to her said "Hrmm, Soma isn't usually helpful with the trainees. Count yourself lucky, rookie."

She glanced at him and saw a young man with purple cargo shorts, a green jacket, and a black baseball cap tilted to the side. He had short red hair, brown eyes, and a perverted-looking smirk.

"The name's Shun Ogawa. I've been here for 5 years so far, so stick with me and we'll get loads of money and resources. And hey," he added with a wide smile, "if you find a high-paying job, lemme know and I'd be happy to help!"

Kinaia's smile was somewhat forced as she thanked him, and she went downstairs to ask the red haired lady what she should do.

Her name was Hibari Takeda, and the leader of Kinaia's new unit was going to take her out for a simulation. Basic training in the field, nothing serious. It still made her feel powerful, though.

After about 5 minutes of waiting, a man with gray pants, a brown vest, and a brown coat with the Fenrir symbol on it walks downstairs and heads straight for her.

He smiles and says "Hey rookie, I've been looking for you. My name is Lindow Amamiya, and I'm your superior officer." He lowers his voice and adds "but let's just ignore all that boring paper stuff, eh?" with a grin. Kinaia nods, grinning herself.

"The only thing I really expect is for you to stay alive. Other than that, I'd appreciate if you had my back in a fight. We clear?" He practically oozes out confidence, and it rubs off on her as well. "You got it, sir. Nothing's gonna take me down!"

He's still laughing when a third person joins the group, and Kinaia's eyes widened. She had on a green and black skirt with a split down one side, all the way to her hip, and she wore a small black shirt that almost looked like a bikini top.

She interrupted with an "Oh, who's this? A newbie?" Lindow grins again and says "Yeah, and right now I'm pounding all our strict and heavy rules on her, so buzz off."

She laughs and jokingly replies "Yes sir, mister Big Boss, sir!", and left after waving to Kinaia.

Lindow checks his wrist, and says "Ooh, look at the time. C'mon, Kinaia, we gotta set out." Though, Kinaia noticed he had no watch. She grinned and replied "Ready when you are."

The duo made a pit stop to grab their weapons from Licca before leaving. Her weapon was the same as she remembered it: A long, thick blade, a comparatively small shield, and somewhere in the weapon a cannon.

She grinned with anticipation, and Lindow slapped her back, saying "That's the spirit! Remember my only rule, though."

His weapon was considerably different than hers. Where hers looked like an oversized machete, his looked like a giant chainsaw. About the same size as her weapon, but definitely more powerful.

It was a short journey to their destination, a city that was populated at some point in history, but now abandoned and heavily damaged. There were plenty of homes wrecked and plundered, a broken fountain near what could've been the plaza, and a mostly intact church with – which surprised Kinaia – a grand piano in relatively good condition, set up on the altar.

All of this Lindow pointed out as they explored, searching for their target and teaching Kinaia the layout of this city. There were back roads, alleyways, and hollowed out buildings that any number of Aragami could hide in. Lindow's wise words of wisdom included '3' guidelines.

1: Don't die.  
2: If your number's up, get out  
3: Hide  
3(?): If you're lucky, catch the enemy off guard and blast it

She took it in stride, and tried not to laugh. This was important, her first mission! She had to be serious to avoid mistakes.

After a few minutes of searching cluttered streets, they found their target: A low-threat Aragami called an Ogretail. It had an alligator/bird-shaped skull, the stance and body structure of a bird, and a tail like a badger. Its whole body was gray-ish silver, and it was about her size. Meaning, it was small compared to the rest of the Aragami.

It looked ferocious though, and the tail and feet looked like they had really sharp claws . . .

As her nerves started to grate on her confidence, Lindow whispered "I'll take this one; we'll find another for you. Watch how it's done." She nodded gratefully.

He quickly but silently approached the Ogretail, making use of wrecked cars and rubble to mask his approach. By the time the Ogretail noticed him, he was close enough to swing his blade and get in a first swipe across the beast's back. The cut was deep, but the Aragami only looked angry, not in pain.

The Ogretail swept its tail in a wide circle, trying to catch Lindow in its arc, but he jumped backwards, and then swung his blade again at the beast's feet. Injury or not, the laws of physics made the beast fall, interrupting whatever it had been about to do. Lindow swiped at its tail until it was cut off, and the beast got back up, definitely looking like it was hurting.

It tried to limp away, but Lindow dashed to intercept, then made a strong downward swing and impaled its head. It tried to escape for a few more seconds, and then fell down, dead.

"Cmere, let me show you how to release your God Arc." He called to Kinaia, who was awed by the fight. She jogged over to him, and he gave a step by step demonstration. The sight of giant black jaws coming out of her blade scared her at first, but Lindow reassured her, saying that was supposed to happen.

_That didn't look too hard…_ she mentally encouraged herself, just as she spotted another Ogretail eating some unknown object in an alleyway across the street. She glanced at Lindow for approval; he gave her a thumbs up.

She made her way across the street, keeping out of the beast's sight. She decided it would be a bad idea to fight in such tight quarters, so she grabbed a decent chunk of debris and threw it against a wall opposite of her hiding place.

The plan worked: The Ogretail, startled by the sudden noise, wandered out to see what happened. Directly behind it, however, was Kinaia preparing a strong swing, hopefully to hurt it to the point of being unable to fight back.

She swung her blade in a low sideways sweep, catching one of its back legs. The leg itself was almost cut off completely, and the Ogretail tried – and failed – to turn around and see its enemy.

As it fell, crippled by its heavily damaged leg, Kinaia made swing after swing, carved into the Ogretail with abandon, until the only sound she could hear was her deep exhales, the hissing sound of Oracle Cell diffusion, and her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

_I killed an Aragami. I did it. I killed one of the demons, and did it without getting hurt._ She was **proud**, damn it. So what if it was just a tiny fish in the Aragami sea? It made her feel invincible.

The moment was broken when she heard clapping, and turned to see Lindow with a big grin on his face, walking toward her. "Now that was an impressive feat. Sneaking up to it was great, though you could've gone a bit faster. Luring it out of the alleyway was flawless, and you never got injured. I'd say this is a mission complete, wouldn't you?" And he never stopped grinning, thinking _This kid might go far. She's got the basics, and she's got common sense._

On the way back, she wondered how Kota and Kama were getting on. And as an odd, random afterthought, she wondered if Soma would be impressed that she finished her first mission.

* * *

A/N: That was, believe it or not, my very first written fight scene. I based my damage logic on the 1-episode GEB intro on YouTube, and I think I did good, if a bit too descriptive.

Despite this being the third chapter in a day, I would still appreciate constructive criticism, comments, and helpful tips. Still fairly new to the writing business, despite being registered in for over 2 years.

Might have more tomorrow, we shall see~


	4. Mistakes

A/N: Damn, I need some sleep. 4 in the morning, and going on, but this insomnia is killing me Dx  
Anyways, chapter 4 is incoming and about to rock your world like a Level 3 Burst shot.

* * *

Following the hours after the completed mission, Kinaia had gone to her room for a nap, and awoke to the same voices that woke her up this morning. She got up, dusted herself off, made her bed – no need to stay messy – and opened her door to catch a glimpse of Kama waving to someone she couldn't see, and a door closing.

She grinned, thinking Kama had a new friend, and snuck up behind him. She quickly grabbed both of his shoulders and said in a sly voice "Whatcha grinning about? New friend?"

When he got over his surprise, he scowled and muttered "Yeah. At least I think so." He turned to lean against the wall, and raised his eyebrow in questioning. "How'd your first mission go? Well, I'd imagine."

Kinaia made a grimace, and said "Good, and bad. I have some things to work on, but I killed my first Ogretail without many complications. Might go and upgrade my blade, while I'm at it," she added.

Kama nodded and said "Might be a good idea. Although, I'm starting to appreciate gunners a bit more," A quick, sideways glance at the door that closed, "so I don't know what I'm going to upgrade first."

They chatted a bit more, but Kama had a mission to take care of, and Kinaia probably had another training mission. They parted ways, and headed in different directions.

Kinaia headed down to the God Arc Storage, upgraded her Blade to a Blade II, studied on what she wanted next, and was just deciding on a shield to save pieces for when she was interrupted by a woman calling her name.

She turned to see the woman from before, with her and Lindow, and waved in greeting. When she got out of the elevator, she said "Hey, we met earlier, but I never told you my name. I'm Sakuya Tachibana." Kinaia nodded in acknowledgement, and then asked "Anything on the agenda today?"

Sakuya nodded, and then said "Meet me in the lobby when you're done, and I'll go over the details with you." After Kinaia nodded again, Sakuya went back up the elevator. Kinaia debated a bit more, and then decided to invest in a Quick Buckler, as well as save up materials to afford an Arctic Chainsaw. It would be noisy, but it would certainly be a welcome addition to damage dealing.

She headed up the stairs and met Sakuya next to the large gated door. Sakuya gave Kinaia the mission details: "Hunting 2 Cocoon Maidens. No movement, but they have some nasty spike attacks. Best to be wary around them, especially if you're new."

Kinaia gulped nervously, then nodded, determined to go through with the mission. Sakuya seemed amused at Kinaia's serious face, and told her "Relax. Stress makes your nerves skyrocket, and leaves your reflexes too high strung to be useful. Calm your mind, relax your shoulders, and be ready to dodge at a moment's notice."

When they arrived at the location, it looked so odd, it was almost surreal. It looked to have been the outskirts of a small town, or perhaps an Aragami-spawned forest. It was flat, there were destroyed buildings and unidentifiable chunks of wall and debris scattered across the area. The one detail that seemed impossible, however, was the never-ending cyclone in the very center of the flattened forest, surrounded by a mixture of wall, forest, and possibly Oracle Cells.

When Kinaia had learned a good deal about the surrounding area, Sakuya launched into the instructions. "For this mission, I'm going to be your support. You will be doing the heavy fighting, but I'll provide covering fire and a distraction if needed."

When Kinaia nodded her understanding, Sakuya continued, "A good rule of thumb to follow when working with a support gunner is to never get out of their range. Always stay with the group, in case of unexpected complications."

After everything was said and done, Kinaia and Sakuya explored the surrounding area, trying to locate these Cocoon Maidens. After a time, Sakuya whispered "Target to your right, about 20 feet. It's noticed us, but we're out of its range."

Kinaia turned to observe the Aragami, and expected something different, for some reason. It was standing upright, looking like a mummy, or a giant Caterpillar cocoon. It had the face of a child, and a curved shell as its back. So far, it was looking at them, but it hadn't moved an inch. Perhaps it really couldn't move?

Kinaia took the risk, and moved forward to engage. She immediately had to jink left to avoid a sudden projectile from the Maiden, and had to continuously zigzag her way to the Cocoon Maiden in order to avoid each projectile. She reached it, and then slashed it twice across the body and face. The only effect she noticed was what could have been a rib cage opened up.

She heard Sakuya's yell of "Watch out!" slightly too late, as black spikes violently thrust out of the ribcage, aiming to spike Kinaia like a pin cushion. Only a few hit her, but it still burned as she retreated, bleeding from shallow cuts and gouges.

"What the hell? Spikes from its chest? Trust a monster to think of that." Kinaia complained as she bandaged herself up, Sakuya providing a decoy. "Well, it's what you get for dashing in without-"She paused to duck under a large beam, "-observing the enemy's attack patterns."

Kinaia finished wrapping, and gripped her blade tighter. "Well, if dashing in doesn't work," She put her palm on the orange orb, like Lindow showed her, and the blade configuration seemed to mold into a large cannon, "Let's try setting it on fire."

She dashed in, same as last time, dodging left and right to avoid projectiles, only when she got close enough; she took aim with her cannon and let loose an impressive stream of superheated Oracle Cells.

It worked like a dream. The flames spread all over the Maiden's body, and with a pained scream, the Maiden proceeded to melt into a half-mush mess. Both women looked at the mess, and Kinaia asked "Think we can still devour it for materials?" Sakuya thought for a second, and then shrugged. "Worth a shot."

After Kinaia salvaged what she could from the melted goop, she had a plasma bolt fire unexpectedly and singe the side of her left hip. It wasn't too painful, but it still encouraged her to morph her weapon back into a blade and keep the shield handy.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, Kinaia asked "Did you see where it came from?" Sakuya murmured "I think it came from that destroyed house over there. Think you could make your way over to it?"

In answer, Kinaia dashed in the direction of the partially destroyed house, earning a few more plasma bolts for her troubles. She dashed left and right, same as before, and jumped through the window she saw the bolts come from. The second and last Cocoon Maiden was in the room, and its ribcage was already unfolded, like the first one.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kinaia shouted as she released her Arc and let it chomp the Maiden's chest in half. The top half of its body was still very much alive, so she took her blade and cut the chunk of Maiden in half again. Then she went to the bottom half, and used her Arc to devour that piece as well.

When she climbed back out the window, Sakuya was waiting, an unamused look on her face. Kinaia looked guilty, and said "At least we took care of the Cocoon Maidens, right?"

Sakuya shook her head and said "It doesn't matter if three people complete the mission if the fourth one dies. Never take risks like that, especially if you have no plan or experience. Think smarter, not bolder. Ok?"

Kinaia looked ashamed, and had her head hanging. "Ok, I'm sorry for rushing in. It won't happen again, I swear." Sakuya sighed, and said "Well, what's done is done. Mission complete, as long as you learned your lesson."

Back at Fenrir, she saw Soma with a grave expression on his face, and Kama with a tear-streaked one. She looked back and forth, and then asked a dumb question: "What happened?"

Soma sighed heavily, and growled out "Eric decided to have a lapse of attention at the exact wrong moment. He never stood a chance."

Kama just looked down, perhaps terrified. "I didn't know . . . it was that easy to die. Eric . . . he was talking about how he was an expert, and how he would survive, and . . . the Ogretail . . . it just . . . just . . ." He couldn't continue, he looked too shocked to do so.

Soma sighed again, a sad little sigh, then put his arm around Kama's shoulder and led him to the elevator. _Hopefully to the infirmary_, maybe the nurse she saw her first day could help.

She hoped she didn't have to experience death like that for a long while. Somehow, she doubted that hope would come true.

Shortly after that incident, Kota caught up to Kinaia and asked if she'd go on a mission with him. _Maybe taking a bit of revenge would help me put it behind me._

"What's the target?" Kinaia asked as they scaled the wall of a partially destroyed temple. The area looked like a monk temple, with fountains, buildings, and various objects of religion scattered across the area. The whole area was covered with snow, being so close to a thermal drain site. She bent over to pick up a small copper Buddha figurine as Kota answered "Something called a Kongou. They're supposed to be uncommon, and if loose in a civilian population, there'll be definite casualties. Let's take it out before it can do any damage, am I right?"

"Yeah," Kinaia answered as she placed the figurine on a fragmented pedestal, "Let's take this monster down. Save more lives." She noticed she was getting much colder towards Aragami, and was pleased to realize she didn't feel bad about it.

They jumped down from the temple they scaled, eager to locate this Kongou and destroy it. Kinaia kept the lesson she learned from Sakuya at the forefront of her mind, so this time she won't be stupid with how she fights.

"From what little I studied about Kongou, it uses pipes on its back to fire pressurized air at its foes, like a cannon. If we destroy the pipes, shouldn't it get rid of his Air Cannon capabilities?" Kinaia theorized. Kota replied "I'm game for whatever you think. You always were the thinker, after all."

After a short chuckle, cut short by a vaguely simian cry, the duo focused on the task at hand. Travelling through snow, trying to locate an Aragami that they don't know . . . It's seeming to be more and more like a bad idea the longer they take.

About 10 minutes into the search, they spotted a giant monkey, or what looks like one. It had a large pipe system on its back, with large openings in the pipes above its shoulder, so they took an educated guess that this was their target.

Kinaia held up her index, middle, and ring fingers, and then folded them back in one at a time. _3 . . 2 . . 1 . ._

When her last finger went down, Kota fired a series of rapid fire flame bullets. His Gatling gun was good at shooting lots of bullets downrange, and fast, so this was a piece of cake.

. . . Only, the bullets did next to nothing to the Kongou, only serving to alert it to their presence and make it angry. The simian scream from before was heard again, only amplified several times by the pipes on its back.

"For god's sakes . . !" Kinaia exclaimed before running in, cautious but frustrated. She had to use her shield to block a swift punch, and then dodge to the right to avoid the Kongou, who folded into a cannonball shape and **threw himself at her in a roll.**

"Getting tired of this!" Kinaia yelled as she slowly but surely hacked away at the pipes on its back. She had to focus on his face and chest occasionally, but enough dodging and blocking prevented the worst of the problem.

Eventually, the monkey charged up its Air Cannon, and she dodged to the side, thinking he was going to shoot it out like she shoots her cannon. However, the ball of air kept building in the pipes, and she realized too late what was going to happen.

She couldn't raise her shield in time, so she crossed her arms in front of her. It did almost nothing to protect her, as the air blast detonated directly next to the beast and threw Kinaia through a wall of the nearby damaged temple. The now-unstable temple ceiling collapsed on top of her, further injuring her, and she barely heard Kota screaming for her through the rubble and her own foggy brain.

She fought to regain control of her limbs, and then tried to push her way out of the rubble. _A broken bone, maybe more _she vaguely thought as she took a deep breath, feeling pain where her ribs were. She climbed out of the wreckage, seeing the fight had resumed in a different section of the area they were in.

Kinaia moved slowly, careful not to aggravate her injuries any more than necessary, and saw the Kongou retreating directly to her position. A move from her first mission suddenly came to mind, and she thought she could pull it off.

She crouched next to the wall, preparing a powerful swing, and when the Kongou turned the corner, he was surprised with a swing to the leg, and the leg actually getting cut off this time. The Aragami fell, unable to keep its balance, and Kinaia finished it off by using the Arc to devour its core.

By the time Kota worked his way up the slope to where Kinaia and the fallen Kongou were, she couldn't see straight. A trio of Kota's asked her if she was ok, and her only response was to fall to her knees, and lean against the wall.

_A short rest wouldn't do me any harm. Hell, I've earned it . . . _

She was out cold in seconds.

* * *

A/N: To be honest, the words kinda flowed out by themselves after the "plan" to take out the Kongous' pipes was formed. I don't like injuring Kinaia, but I feel an idea coming to the surface, which would help along her pairing. ;P

Also, according to the introductory A/N:

Gaming nerd level = 95^2. AKA 9025, AKA over 9000, AKA i seriously friggin need sleep.

Rate, review, criticize. Love it? Hate it? I won't know until you tell me.


	5. Rescue

If you haven't guessed by now, this is loosely based on the storyline. It will greatly divert from the game events later on, but for now, enjoy~

* * *

There wasn't much to be done around the base, so Kama decided to check the missions available. _Best keep myself busy, there's always something needed done, _he thought.

As he was leaving, a familiar voice calling for him made him pause. Kanon Daiba, a friendly medic in the 2nd Unit, was approaching from the elevator. She was a good healer, and she was well-intentioned, but she had the worst record for friendly fire, and was seldom asked to go on missions. They had become fast friends, and was a welcome sight for Kama.

She looked like she was uneasy right now, so when she got downstairs and close enough to talk to without yelling, he asked "What's the matter?"

She said "There's a team out that needs a rescue immediately, but all of the others in that unit are on missions. There are very few God Eaters left in the base, and the rescue was labeled Priority One!" Kama's eyes widened. Priority 1 was exclusively used for rescues in which at least one person was gravely injured, and the team could not return safely for whatever reason.

He told her "I'll join you. Who's injured, and where?" If someone needed help, he couldn't just walk away!

"The request was made by Kota from Unit 1, for Kinaia, also in Unit 1. Broken bones, possibly a concussion. They were hunting a Kongou in the snow region, along the cliff side near an abandoned temple cluster. It's a long trek, so bring warm clothes and a good weapon. We need to hurry and be back before her condition worsens!" she quickly replied, before hurrying off to the God Arc storage bay.

Kama began to worry, and he cancelled the mission he was about to do. He listed himself under Kanon's rescue team, and then hurried off to his room for extra medical supplies. He grabbed plenty, possibly more than they needed, but his worry for his first two friends in the Far East Branch wouldn't let him take any less.

When he got back to the lobby, he saw that Soma had also joined the team. He took a couple minutes to run down to the God Arc storage, grabbed his weapon – a regular knife, reinforced with scrap iron from the sewage plant; a futuristic-looking heavy shield; a basic single-barrel gun – and the trio set off to help.

Kama only hoped they got there in time.

-**Time skip: 3 hours** (blame my formatting, it won't just let me put two line skips in a row)-

The trek was long, but not too dangerous. The few Aragami that showed up were small and easily destroyed. Kama wasn't worried about these small fry.

Soma didn't say much, only breaking his silence to tell Kama to be careful of the sloped terrain, and Kanon occasionally pointed out where to go. Kama had never been out this far, and was extra vigilant, not wanting to be caught off-guard and have the rescue delayed even further.

It was bad luck that all of the Fenrir helicopters were gone, each for official business, but both Kama and Soma agreed that it was better to suck it up and walk rather than wait for a helicopter to return.

An hour ago, Kota had sent a report via communicator to Kanon stating Kinaia's wounds were clean and covered, but she was still unconscious and he was too weak from the Kongou fight to carry her. Kanon told him to hole up in a safe area and stay there.

Kama was tired, as were Kanon and Soma most likely, but he refused to stop until he reached his friends. The thought that another person close to him was close to death was enough to temporarily burn all traces of fatigue from his body, and he pushed on.

He was lost in his thoughts so deeply, he hadn't noticed the scenery change until Kanon stopped, announcing "It's in this general area. Watch for scavenging Aragami and find Kota and Kinaia".

He was amazed he hadn't felt the bitter cold or felt the snow coating his body, but when he was aware of the snow and not in his head, he felt it pretty quickly. He saw Kinaia before the mission, and she was wearing a long sleeve shirt with shorts. _How the hell did she not freeze during the fight?_

They split up, watching for where the two could be. Kota hadn't been answering his communicator, so he was probably asleep. Hopefully.

Kama eventually saw a sign of life: a slightly damaged house, holes blocked by packed snow, doors closed, a stick with a piece of cloth sticking out of the snow, like a flag. There were also small indents in the snow leading to the door, at regular intervals, that made Kama think they were footprints. He went to the house and opened the doors, hoping he found them. He wasn't disappointed.

Kota was sitting against the wall, arms crossed, asleep. One leg was directly under him, the other sprawled slightly to the side. He was wearing his trademark baggy orange and black shorts, with a thin black undershirt on instead of his usual yellow vest. His scarf and hat were missing too, and he saw where they went when he looked to the other side of the room.

Kinaia looked . . . awful. Her head was swathed in bandages – there were bloodied bandages on the floor next to her, he belatedly noticed - her chest wrapped in bandages, and she was curled on the floor, asleep. She was wearing Kota's missing vest, scarf, and hat, but her skin still looked pale, and her fingers and lips were blue.

He quickly rushed to Kota, checked his pulse, and then shook his shoulder. He woke with a start, hand reaching for his gun automatically, before his brain turned on and he recognized Kama. He sighed with relief, and then went to check on Kinaia. Kama saw him drag his right leg, and noticed Kota had a makeshift splint on it, and wondered how a single Aragami could cause so much damage to two God Eaters.

Without needing to speak, Kama picked up Kinaia – Wow, she was a bit heavy – and put her on his back, arms around his neck, then grabbed Kota and supported his wounded side as they sat up. Kota groaned in pain from shifting his damaged and stiff leg, and bit down on it halfway through, silencing himself.

Kama awkwardly brought out his communicator one-handed and contacted Kanon. "I found them both, alive but badly hurt. Grab Soma and meet us by the main temple; we're in a house not too far from it. Raise Fenrir and try to get helicopters down here; we won't be able to walk back."

"Roger. I'll relay the message and make it Priority One," Kanon responded with relief evident in her voice. Kama disconnected and put the device away, then asked Kota "How sure are you that your leg is broken? Can you walk a quarter mile to the main temple?"

Kota gritted his teeth and nodded, and the trio half-walked, half-staggered to the area. After 10 minutes of frequent rests and slow moving, they finally saw Soma and Kanon waiting next to the large building. Soma ran to the trio faster than Kama expected, transferred Kinaia over to his back, and the four walked the small distance to Kanon, who was preparing her supplies and bandages just inside the temple.

"I managed to contact Sakaki; a helicopter is inbound, ETA 10 minutes. How are they?" Kanon asked when they got inside. Kota said "Other than my leg, I'm fine. Kinaia was caught in a collapsing building, check her first."

After a quick check – 3 broken ribs, 2 broken fingers on her sword hand, possible concussion – Kanon patched her up as best as she could with the limited supplies. Kota howled with joy when the sound of propellers was heard in the distance, slowly getting louder.

_At least we found them without too many complications,_ Kama thought. As if the Gods were unpleased with those words, a howl was heard nearby, followed by another, and another. Several menacing growls were heard very close, far too close for comfort. Soma laid Kinaia down in the center of the room, and Kama let Kota limp there as well, gun in hand.

Soma and Kama prepared their weapons as the growling increased in volume and intensity, and they were prepared when the door was beat against, like something ramming it. Kanon, in a shaky voice, said "3 minutes until the helicopters get here. We need to hold them off!"

Kama growled "Let them try to get in. We got all this way, saved our friends, and I'm not letting these freaks of nature take them from me." Soma was silent, but his grip on the large black saw-like weapon of his got tighter.

Kama ran to the door and pushed it open with a thrust of his shoulder, unbalancing the Ogretail on the other side. There had to be at least 10 of the things surrounding the temple, probably drawn by the smell of fresh blood.

With a loud battle cry, Kama thrust his knife into the face of the unbalanced Ogretail, piercing its eye and shoving the blade to the hilt. He kicked the now-dead beast off of his blade, the carcass knocking another over. The remaining Ogretails roared, furious that their food was fighting back, and charged the God Eaters.

As Kama pierced another through the leg, he risked a glance at Soma and saw him slice one in half at the stomach, bloody trails left behind on the snow. He had to focus his attention back on the impaled Aragami as it made a desperate lunge to bite him. He twisted to the side, his blade moving with him, making the cut deeper and longer, before slashing upward to cut it in half, much like Soma's kill.

A scream made him turn inside, only to find that the side wall of the temple was being torn down, a hole half as wide as an Ogretail already visible and quickly growing. He yelled "Soma, keep them from getting in this way!" and rushed to the wall. Unfortunately, the back was also being torn into. There were more beasts than he thought, much more than they could handle.

Kota aimed at the back wall, yelling "I got this side! Keep your focus over there!" as he blasted a hole through the offending Ogretail's eye. Kama turned back to his wall to find an Ogretail pushing through, and rewarded its efforts with a God Arc to the face. It retreated for a moment, long enough for Kama to yell to Kanon "When's that damn helicopter getting here? We can't hold out much longer!"

Kanon was busy shooting healing bullets at Soma, who was getting nicked and hit by swarming Ogretails, and she yelled back "A minute, tops! Closer to half a minute!" Kama had to focus on his wall again as another hole was being torn in the corner, closer to the back of the room.

_Damn, they really want us badly_ he morbidly thought as he switched to his Gatling gun and added to Kota's stream of Oracle bullets. That went well for a few seconds, until Kota's gun ominously clicked, empty. "Damnit!" Kota swore, and turned his gun upward, ready to use as a makeshift club if he needed to.

The Aragami were almost through the back wall, when a very welcome set of sounds were heard: Helicopter propellers, nice and loud, as well as gunshots from outside. Soma muttered "Cavalry's arrived. Just in time, too." He added, wiping sweat from his forehead. Kama saw that Soma's cuts and scratches didn't look nearly as bad as he thought. Most were shallow, nothing to worry about.

And outside was a scene that Kama would forever remember in his mind: Lindow, Sakuya, and 3 other God Eaters, surrounded by a dozen or more Ogretail corpses. It was a gruesome image, but at the moment Kama had never seen anything more beautiful. As he helped Kota get to the helicopter, Soma got Kinaia on his shoulders again and walked to the helicopter. She was still sound asleep, somehow.

Lindow patted Soma's, Kanon's, then Kama's shoulder, saying "Good job, you three. Successfully rescued the two wounded recruits, held off the ambush, and no one else was seriously hurt. Definitely worthy of a mission complete." He said with a grin. Sakuya and Kanon were the last to board, making sure they hadn't left anything of importance, and the helicopter rose into the air.

Kama breathed out a long sigh and felt the tension in his body seep away. They were in the air, they were safe, and on their way home. With drooping eyes, he saw that Soma had shifted Kinaia so she was lying on the bench, his coat covering her, head in his lap. He had an odd shimmer on his face. Was that . . . a tear?

He felt pressure on his shoulder and turned to see Kanon slumped against him, sleeping. _Not a bad idea, _he vaguely thought as he leaned back and fell asleep. The last thought he had before slipping away was _is this normal for a God Eater, or will it get easier with time?_

* * *

A/N: That felt a bit awkward, and I'm fairly certain I'm making Soma a bit OOC, but whatever. He may be quiet and moody in-game, but I'd rather think of that as "him not finding anyone interesting enough to socialize with". In the game, he started having more social moments with the Protagonist when he/she proved him/herself, and it started a bit before Moon in the Welkin, so why not?

Due to an idea my friend had, I'm going to be implementing a maximum of 3 OC's, so if you feel like this story has potential to not completely suck, feel free to send me a PM xD

Follow the basic OC formula if you decide to send one:

Name:  
Gender:  
Age:  
Nationality:  
Weapon: (Old/New, melee/shield, gun)  
Face: (Eyes/hair, I always do better when I envision the look)  
Clothes: (Add anything extra if OC wears it. Ex: bandana, gloves, legging, etc.)  
Personality: (Be as descriptive as possible, and answer "How do you feel?" in the way he/she would say. Ex: "How do you feel?" Soma: "None of your concern.")

Also, I got a PM from the same friend I mentioned above, saying I'm too vague with my weaponry descriptions. If it will help, I'll post current weapons for both Kama and Kinaia at the end of every chapter, starting here.

Kama

Short Blade series: Knife II  
Tower Shield series: Aurgelmir P  
Assault Gun series: Type 50 Auto-gun II

Kinaia

Long Blade series: Blade II  
Shield series: Common Shield  
Blast Gun series: Type 20 Gat II

Long Authors note, but I counted; The chapter itself, without the A/N, is 2114 words. Around that area, often more, will be my limit each chapter.


	6. Improving

Sorry about the odd way I did my time skip/flashback, I had a 'Derp' moment with that, and by the time I belatedly noticed how some people might get lost, I had already written over 2000 words. I'll keep this kind of time swapping to a minimum. Just know, at the end of the chapter, 2 weeks have passed since Kota and Kinaia were rescued.

* * *

When the helicopter reached the Den, people swarmed into action. Kinaia was taken directly into the surgical room, while Kota was sent to his room for a week of bed rest. His knee and ankle were dislocated, no breaks. His bones were put back in place, and he would be fine with rest.

Soma disappeared into his room almost as soon as the helicopter landed, and when Kama had knocked and asked, Soma had said to go away. Kanon was checking Kota's leg once more, searching for a possible break that could've been missed. Time had passed, about two weeks had gone by of hunting Aragami and gathering pieces for upgrades. Only one event had been important in this time, and vitally so.

**-Time Skip: 2 weeks-**

Kama was in Lindow's room, talking, getting advice. He was thoroughly distressed at his friends' conditions, and wanted to learn as much as possible to prevent it from happening again. Even if he couldn't prevent it, he wanted to minimize it.

He was being taught how to lead a team, how to maximize the effectiveness of each person in a group, and he soaked everything up with determination. Learned about areas, learned about Aragami types, learned as much as he could pound into his head in a week. He only started his lessons with the Unit 1 leader a week ago, but he already knew so much more than before.

Kinaia had woken up several times in those days, and was almost ready to be discharged from the medical room. Soma visited Kinaia every day she was hospitalized. It was a little surprising, but every time Lindow saw Soma enter or exit the medical room, he would laugh a bit, and then continue on.

Kota also visited when his leg healed, but only sometimes, preferring not to see his childhood friend in that condition, and instead finding chores and missions to keep himself occupied.

He went on several missions to make up for lost time, and helped bring down a Chi-You, a large, humanoid bird-like beast with strong titanium 'feathers' that could shoot fireballs from its hands and beak, as well as throw a pretty powerful wing swipe.

As the mission was a week ago, and Kama had recovered, he actually helped in that, but neither of his weapons at the time were very effective against the beast. He was forced to stick to shooting healing Oracle bullets at teammates, but that only meant he had less distractions . . .

-**Flashback: 1 week ago**-

Running through the magma-filled subway was hectic enough, what with all of the rocks, sinkholes, various tunnels that loop or lead to cave-ins, and constantly being on the lookout for lava spouts that fling the molten danger several feet away, but this Chi-You was tearing apart the floor and walls to make things harder. Kama was vastly annoyed that his gun and knife were ineffective, forcing him to stay at a distance, shooting healing shots at his team.

And if there were ever a more mismatched team made before, he didn't want to be a part of it.

Tatsumi O'Mori, leader of the Defense Unit, was the leader of the team tasked with killing the Chi-You. He was a short blade Old-Type, never underestimates his target, and has experience with leading teams, so he was the obvious choice for the task. He wasn't the problem, though.

The third member was Gina Dickinson, a reckless sniper gun Old-Type whom follows orders half the time, and does her own thing the other half. A very bad mix, but she was superb when she listened to orders, which was getting to be more often as the situation got progressively worse.

The last, and most volatile member, was Shun Ogawa. He was a long blade Old-Type, and was even worse at following orders than Gina. If the enemy showed any sign of weakness, regardless if it was feigned or not, Shun rushed in and tried to 'go for the kill'. Strong and steady, but too arrogant and headstrong, not to mention predictable in his tactics.

The Chi-You, being the smart beast it was, took advantage of Shun's flaw and constantly faked flinches. Shun, being the gullible opportunist he was, always fell for the trick, and almost always got hit before backing off, aware of the trick too late.

A lucky fireball had knocked Tatsumi unconscious during one of Shun's rushes, and he had to be immediately evacuated. That took a good 10 minutes as Shun took him up top, Gina and Kama staying behind to make sure the Chi-You didn't take advantage of the break. Shun returned after Tatsumi was safely in an emergency helicopter, but that was about the only good thing so far.

The already-bad mission soured even further after Gina called out her extremely limited amount of bullets left and Shun was limping despite the healing bullets Kama hit him with. Healing bullets could only heal cuts and energy, and Shun didn't have a visible cut on his body.

_He probably sprained his leg, the clumsy fool, _Kama inwardly grimaced, and kept a determined face throughout it all. The Chi-You, despite getting so many free hits on the team, was starting to get tired from the combined wounds it had received so far. The replacement duo that Kama requested was nearly here, and Kama was beginning to run out of bullets.

_Scratch that,_ he scowled as his gun clicked empty, _I'm out now, and unless those replacements get here very fast, we won't last._ Thinking fast, he said "Gina, do you think you could distract him for about five minutes? I have an idea, and I need some time to set it up." Gina looked at the surroundings and saw a track half-submerged in lava that led deeper into the tunnels. "Depends how I'm allowed to go about it. I have about a dozen shots left. If I ration them out, I can keep him stalled for perhaps five, six, minutes."

Kama grinned "Perfect. Just don't get yourself cornered, and distract him. Lead him back here when you hear metal against metal. My sword hitting the railway will be your cue to bring him back. Watch your step when you return, though." Gina nodded, and then dashed right across the Chi-You's line of sight, firing an ice bullet at its left wing.

Several titanium feathers were chipped off in the process, which pissed the Aragami off. It chased her down one of the tunnels, and Kama heard another shot go off, followed by an Aragami screech. Kama turned to Shun and said "Start stacking pieces of debris along the tunnel entrance. Make a ledge low enough for Gina to spot and dodge, but high enough to trip the Aragami. Do it quickly, if you want Gina to make it out in one piece." Shun nodded, then sifted through the piles of rubble, determined not to screw up what could be their last chance.

Kama, meanwhile, grabbed the undamaged part of an exposed wire he found hanging out of the ground earlier and laid it on the floor in the middle of the tunnel entrance that Gina led the beast through. He grabbed a piece of random metal and dropped it on the exposed wire ends, and was pleased to discover the electricity still went through the wires as they electrocuted the piece of metal.

Next, he grabbed his canteen of water and set it aside. He'd have to wait until Shun got back with the pipe before he set the last piece up. He created a wide barrier around the tunnel entrance. Not very tall, just enough to contain the trap. Just as he placed the last piece of rubble, Shun came back with a narrow, long pipe. Kama grabbed it, placed it slightly above the ground, leaving a decent bit of space between it and the ground. Perfect size.

He then grabbed his canteen, said to Shun "Take a gulp of your canteen, and then give it to me. We need a trap starter." He did as he was told, now curious as to what Kama planned to do. It was obvious what it was supposed to do, but how would this change the playing field enough to win?

Just then, Kota and a 2nd Unit buster blade user named Brendan Bardell got to them, out of breath. Brendan wheezed out a "Where's Gina?" while Kota got his breath back. Kama told him the somewhat-thought out plan, and Brendan nodded, standing straight. His weapon, a massive claymore, was drawn and ready, and Kota had his gun out and aimed at the tunnel Gina came from.

Kama asked for Kota's canteen, and then poured the contents of all 3 canteens into the makeshift trap. Before Kota could protest, the water sparked as though possessed, thoroughly charged with electricity, before settling back to a normal look. "Now, to grab Gina's attention," he said as he drew his knife.

He found the biggest hollow pipe he could, and forcefully smacked it with the flat side of his weapon 5 times. The loud **clang **sounds could've been heard for miles, and the acoustics in the subway made it certain that Gina could hear it. Kama told Brendan and Shun to hide behind some rubble, and showed Kota a fallen pillar to aim from. Kama called out in a loud, clear voice "Gina, dodge to the side before you exit the tunnel!"

He wasn't sure if she heard, but he hoped she did. He really didn't want to deal with a mistake of his deep-frying a teammate.

Seconds later, an echoed shot was heard, followed by a loud, echoing "Incoming!" as well as frantic footsteps. As they came into view, still deep in the tunnel, he saw the Chi-You had a few more cracks on its feather armor, proof of Gina's methods working. The Aragami had a constant screech as it charged, low and furious.

Gina saw the ledge, stopped at the edge, and suddenly leaped to the left, out of the Chi-You's path. Gina smacked into the side of the tunnel wall with a grunt of pain, but the next sound was music to our ears.

The Chi-You had done exactly as Kama had hoped. Not seeing the trap in time and running at a dead sprint, it had been unable to slow down or turn the direction of its charge. It tripped, limbs flailing, and landed on its chest in the water. For a half-second, nothing happened . . .

Then his body caught up with reality and the Aragami's howl of pain – _Could birds howl quite like that? Had to be another species in its DNA_ – was ear-piercingly loud. The metal that surrounded its body must've been a good conductor for electricity, because within half a minute, the beast was facedown, metal blackened and smoking, body slightly twitching. Kama grabbed his gun and tentatively poked its head, acutely aware of where his feet couldn't cross. It didn't even budge.

He slowly smiled; a fragile, small smile, ready to fall away if the Aragami got up again. Nothing was said for two full minutes, and the Aragami had stopped twitching. His smile blossomed into a wide grin, and his relieved laugh couldn't be contained any longer, as well as nearly jumping for joy.

First Chi-You down, and he did it by a miracle. When the group had gotten back to base, Tatsumi had already awoken, bandages over his burned chest, and asked for a report. All of the team members reported his cool head and unwavering voice as he had – almost literally – pulled a victory out of the jaws of defeat.

Tatsumi nodded, pleased, and said "Good. Rest and recuperate, and be ready to go back out in a few hours. Oh, and Kama, stay back for a few minutes." He added as the team left to get some much needed relaxing.

Kama stood tall, wondering what Tatsumi wanted with him, and was surprised when he said "This mission was meant as a sort of test, minus the part where I got knocked out. You performed superbly, far better than Director Schicksal expected. Effective immediately, you are hereby transferred to Unit 1. They could definitely use your on-the-spot planning more than us, and you can help them train a new God Eater recruit."

Kama's eyes widened. "So soon? I'm still a recruit myself-"he tried to protest, but Tatsumi had cut him off and said "Regardless of whether you decide to help the noob out, Unit 1 will give you more of a chance to hone your strategizing as well as gain recognition. Defense is important, but Unit 1 handles the front lining, while we normally stay back and help on the home front."

"Do your best, and don't think this means you get to slack off!" he finished, and then slapped Kama's back in congratulations.

He was excited, yes, but that meant he would have less missions with the group he was used to. Yes, they had low teamwork, and yes, Unit 1 was known for its tight comradeship, but he already knew how to make the most of the Defense Unit members' strengths and faults.

_I'll have to start fresh and work even harder_, he decided.

-**End Flashback**-

After that mission, he had gone on a basic mission with Sakuya and Lindow, the Unit Medic and Unit Leader respectively, and impressed them both. Afterwards, he had asked Lindow to help him with learning. He had no desire to see his friends wounded like that, or worse, ever again. Lindow was happy to oblige.

And so, the study session of Hell began. Various ways to hide an ambush, subtle signs that Aragami had been through an area, strategies for many different locations, Aragami info . . . the list goes on.

He was by no means an expert, and he knew he wouldn't fully understand the information until he put it into practice, but this preparedness put his mind at ease.

As the week ended, he decided to take a trip down to the surgical room, and what he saw made him do a double-take. Kinaia was asleep, curled up and laying on her left side. Someone, who was wearing Soma's clothes and had Soma's hair peeking out of the hood of his jacket, was laying on his arms, propped up by the bedside, asleep. Kinaia's arms were wrapped around his head and arms awkwardly, like a teddy bear, and Kama stepped outside, suddenly feeling stupid.

_So that's what his problem was, _He thought, feeling dumb, as pieces suddenly started clicking together like a jigsaw puzzle. He had a satisfied smirk on his face as he walked down to the elevator. His friends were alive and healing, he was training - in mind and body - to prevent more accidents, and he felt more satisfied than he had felt in a long time.

Things were starting to look up around here.

* * *

A/N: This was more filler for the next segment, but I thought it was pretty good. I even added a half-assed Chi-You fight, and seriously wish I could've killed one like that. Frequently used Shock Traps in my MHFU game, and they saved me several times.

On the character choices for the team, I've never really liked Shun. Just like Kanon is a terrible shot in-game, Shun always chased the enemy when it fled to recover and screwed up any chance for preparation on my part. Only, Kanon gives me rare items at the end of a mission. Shun only gives me IOUs for wasted pills :I

Gina is a good character to be with, since she always only shot bullets strong against the Aragami we were fighting. I don't know if anyone else noticed that, but I usually included her in my teams because of that detail.

To the anon reviewer A Jack Frost Guy, I have a good spot to work your OC in, but it requires a bit of tweaking. I'm gonna have him be able to use Deus Ex when the story actually gets to a Susano'o, but until then he can stick with the first (gradually upgrading) weapon in each of your lines.

To the user PointsForSlang, you must've been reading my mind when you PM'ed me your character. She was exactly what I needed to merge the first and second parts of my story, so definitely count her in.

For the sake of courtesy, I'll go ahead and announce the obvious. There is one more OC slot, and I will probably only pick it if I think it'll help the story progress.

Current Weapons  
Kama

Short Knife series: Fiery Knife P-Type  
Tower Shield series: Fireproof Tower II  
Assault Gun series: Yang Rifle

Kinaia

Long Knife series: Blade II  
Shield series: Common Shield  
Blast Gun series: Type-20 Gat

I'm gonna be updating every 3 days from here on out. If I can't maintain that deadline for whatever reason, I'll put an edit at the top of this chapter and say when the new deadline will be. I can say without doubt that I'll put up a chapter or two at least every week, so there's that.

Story word count: 2498 words without the A/N.

Cheers~


	7. Damaged

Quick announcement: All OC slots have been filled. Thank you for the submissions, and I won't accept anymore for now.  
Also, i have a few ideas for the next few chapters involving background music. If I were to put a youtube link where it should start, would anyone listen to it?

* * *

Kinaia was getting very tired of being in bed while everyone else was off saving humankind. A bit of an exaggeration, but close enough. Soma continued to help her, but he wouldn't budge until today about letting her walk.

_C'mon, it's just a few broken ribs. It's not like I fractured my spine, or broke both my legs_, she inwardly grumbled, then guiltily stopped, knowing it could've been much worse than a few broken fingers and ribs.

As she walked around the room, feeling energetic after weeks of being damn near strapped to a bed, she made sure to pop every bone she could manage, relishing the feeling. When she got out of here, she was going to tear those demons to shreds!

She turned a little too sharply while pacing the room, and her foot got caught in a cable. She tripped and nearly fell, but Soma grabbed her and pulled her back up. "Thanks," she muttered, embarrassed. She can stare down monsters that could kill her in a heartbeat, but she can't keep her feet from tripping over every little thing? That had to be fixed before she went back out.

_But_, she thought as Soma held her arm for a second longer, then let go to sit back in his chair, _Soma's attitude has been off lately. Did my injury really worry him that much?_ He was normally stoic, silent, and blunt as a rock, but lately he's been more helpful, more social. Kinaia thought she was still asleep when she heard him laughing quietly to one of Kota's jokes a few days ago.

Kanon walked back into the clinic and said "Alright Kinaia, your ribs are healed, your fingers as well, and you don't have any other issues. You're free to go, but take it slow for the first few days." Kinaia stretched her arms in the air until she heard her shoulders pop, and then made a wide smile. "Thanks, Kanon. I don't plan on being here again anytime soon. Let's go, I need to train," she directed at Soma, and he rolled his eyes as they left.

"Overdoing it as usual. Most Gods Eaters would be happy to have a few extra days of break after getting injured." His voice was skeptical, but his eyes asked a different question. Kinaia patted his arm with a big grin and said "Trust me; I've had plenty of rest. Can't let you pass my skills willingly, can I? I'm fine, both inside and out." She added as his face morphed into disbelief.

"Now, go sleep. I know you've been up all night." She ordered him, and he grumbled out "Gonna be the death of me," before moving off. As he got to the elevator, she said "I'll be in the training room you showed me my first day here, just so you're aware." He nodded, his face softening a bit, and he said "Remember, don't overdo it" before the elevator closed.

Kinaia went to her room to change into clean clothes, and saw that her personal terminal was flashing with a mail symbol on the screen. She turned it on to reveal a mass email that had been sent by Professor Sakaki yesterday. She opened it, and read aloud "To all God Eaters: There's been a breakthrough in Oracle Weaponry research, and two new prototype weapon types are now available. Request a weapon exchange from Licca, and fill in technical reports after every mission. The more detailed reports that are documented, the faster a stable and reliable weapon can be developed." She had to admit, she was curious.

She scanned the database for the new weapons, and let out a low whistle, impressed. There were two new close range weapons, and both of them looked lethal in their own way.

The first was a large spear, and it appeared to use Oracle cells to sharpen the point to a razor-fine blade. It had an Oracle cell recycling system, enabling the Oracle cell charge to be reused again and again until the Oracle cells were entirely depleted. Very useful, but stabbing wasn't really her thing.

The second caught her eye, and the more she read, the more she wanted it. It looked like a sledgehammer with a jet engine on the reverse side. According to the initial testing reports, the engine explosively released Oracle cells at the moment the hammerhead reached a specific air resistance, meaning when a swing was made, forcing the hammer to go far faster than human strength could ever manage. The hammerhead looked smoothed out at the edges, maybe so the edges didn't chip off on contact?

She decided she was going to use the hammer. Why not? It was definitely her style to bash through the enemies, and what better way to do that than with a superfast hammer strike? She could even test it out in the training room!

She put in a request for the experimental 'Boost Hammer', as well as a new shield from pieces Kama had given her. He said he didn't need them, so she didn't put up a fuss. Licca personally messaged her, saying she would have it on in five minutes, and reminding her to report frequently on combat capabilities and performance. An additional note reminded her that it was a prototype, and therefore not completely stable, but Kinaia was sure it wouldn't be a problem.

She changed into white jeans*, a blue shirt, and a white hoodie*, tied her slightly-longer hair into a ponytail*, then walked out to the elevator. It would take about 3 minutes to get everything she needed before heading to the storage, so she shouldn't have to wait too long. She grabbed a juice can from the vending machine outside and drank it on the way down to the lobby.

After buying a few Restore Pills from the merchant sitting in the corner, she decided that enough time had passed, and travelled down to the storage room to see this weapon for herself. Licca was waiting for Kinaia, and told her "You're the first person to test out the new hammer, so be extra detailed in your reports. Ok?" Kinaia nodded, and then grabbed her weapon from the slot.

It looked pretty much how she imagined it; a large hammer with the hammer head on one end and an engine on the other. The black vines and orange orb had moved to the thick handle end, and she tapped it to switch to her gun. It was a bit slower than a regular weapon, she noted, but the engine also gave her shots a supercharge. _Even my cannon could have a pierce shot_, she noted with a bit of incredulity.

She took the weapon with her back into the elevator, and entered in what she wanted to train against in a small pad below the elevator buttons. She spotted a few that looked interesting, and set the faux-Aragami to medium difficulty. It would move and behave like the original, but its attacks were weaker than the original. Any attacks involving elements of nature were disabled, but she could enable them if she chose hard difficulty, which would pretty much be going against a **harder **version of the original Aragami.

She took a deep breath, judged her ribs to be perfectly capable of taking a beating, and walked in the room. She had to walk to the center of the bullet-riddled room to begin the exercise, and she could cancel the exercise at any time by rushing to any of the four raised pedestals in each corner of the large room, vocally saying "I surrender", or being knocked unconscious.

A familiar demonic simian screech reminded her to pay attention, and a fake Kongou came out of an opening in the wall, which closed shortly after. Its colors were faded compared to the original, and it had a slightly robotic movement pattern, but it moved fluidly enough to be considered the real thing. Kinaia raised her hammer into her old sword's ready stance, and then realized that wouldn't work. _Damnit_.

She had to figure this out on the fly, because there was _no friggin way _she was giving up. Either she won, or lost. She spent a few minutes trying to find a comfortable swinging position, dodging the Kongou's rolls and punches at the same time, and decided on having it over her shoulder at first, then held behind her like a katana afterwards.

As the Kongou leaped at her, she grabbed the hammer with both hands and swung downward, momentarily forgetting about the boost feature, focused entirely on _smashing this bastard's face in_-

The engine quickly reminded her, and it felt like the hammer was trying to jerk her arms out of their sockets. The hammer boosted downward and crushed the Kongou's entire head, as well as part of its upper back, into paste on the floor. The rest of the body flailed for a few seconds, then fell still.

As the fake Oracle cells slowly self-dissolved, as was the result when a fake Aragami was destroyed, Kinaia sat on her butt and spend a few seconds staring, amazed.

_All that force . . . all that __**raw power**__ . . . _This was going to be her weapon, no doubt about it. It was practically **tailor-made **for her! If she had this weapon before, during the Kongou fight . . .

_It would've turned out differently. I wouldn't have forced Kota to defend me and get himself hurt as well. I wouldn't have been thrown through a friggin wall. Everything will be different with this kind of power._

Kinaia knew her thoughts weren't going down a very good path, sure that they were influenced by her hatred of being helpless, but she didn't care. Kinaia Tsumi refused to be helpless any longer. She would train with this weapon until she had it down _**perfectly**_, so that no one else had to worry about her making an amateur mistake at a critical moment. She swore no one would ever worry about her skills, ever again.

"Engage simulation, Kongou, hard difficulty, location Snowy Temple. Activate" she commanded, prepared to get vengeance on the creature that dared to beat her. She closed her eyes, knowing the room would expand and alter based on the location she announced. First time she looked, it made her dizzy and unable to block an attack from a simulation Ogretail. She had to run haphazardly to the corner panel, her pride preventing her from vocally cancelling the challenge.

When she heard another demonic cry, this sounded less like a monkey and more like a cheetah from Pre-Aragami Terra. She grinned, and yelled back at the beast, taunting it. Baiting it.

Challenging it, subconsciously emulating the unnatural demon she wanted to kill.

**-POV change-**

Sakaki was told to examine Training Room 4 from the observation room by Johannes. When he asked for the reason, all he was told was "An interesting development I thought you would appreciate witnessing. You'd best hurry if you don't want to miss it, Doctor."

Ominous, but then again, this _was_ Schicksal he was talking about. The man was smooth with words, and always sounded like he could be lying. Nonetheless, his curiosity had been spiked. He traveled to the requested spot, expecting a basic course, but when he got there, what he saw made him stop, dreadfully curious.

The female New-Type who had just been let out of the hospital was fighting inside a simulated Snowy Temple. It was a generic area with half-damaged buildings, high walls, a small ravine, and snow everywhere. According to the recorded statistics, she had completed 5 training challenges so far. The first was a medium Kongou in a bare training room, ended in . . . 30 seconds? _Astounding_, he mused.

The next was a hard Kongou in the Snowy Temple, which was ended in 4 minutes. After that were two Kongous, same difficulty, same area, ended in 6 minutes. As he read on, he grew more and more curious, but at the same time worried.

The fourth and fifth simulations were the same, four Kongous in the Snowy Temple on hard difficulty. The fourth run was completed in 15 minutes, but the fifth was completed in 8 minutes. _Absolutely magnificent_, he thought, and then he looked away from the console and looked up in time to see Kinaia, fake blood from the simulated Kongous on her so thick it dripped off of her in small rivulets, a wide-mouthed snarl on her face, her eyes narrowed as she demolished what may have once been a Training Kongou.

Its front legs were crushed, Oracle cell structures sticking out like bones. Its face was half crushed, the beast's pipes bent so far inward, it pierced the skin. She finished the fake Aragami with an uppercut swing that lifted it into the air and slammed it into a wall. When it slid down, it left a trail of blood. As he looked around, he saw remnants of the rest of the Kongous. Partially dissolved, at least one from as far back as the second trial – Each one dissolved completely within 30 to 35 minutes – and there were more than a dozen crushed bodies of Kongou in her wake. The timer listed this challenge – for this couldn't be called 'training' anymore – as 'Completed Under Par Time – 12:28.' That was faster than the previous record by a full twenty minutes.

She called out "Engage simulator, Kongou times ten, Snowy Temple. Activate" in a quiet, rage-filled voice that surely was more beast than human. Sakaki denied further access to the training facility for the day, and the simulated location disappeared. The fake blood was still on her though, and it took her a few seconds to recognize the basic training room.

She growled; a loud, frustrated noise hinting at pent-up rage, and yelled "What the hell?!" Sakaki turned on the loudspeaker and told her "That's quite enough for the day." Her eyes widened, and the fierce scowl disappeared, replaced by a regular, human, angry expression. "I'm not done yet. I haven't mastered the Burst Hammer, and I'm not leaving until I do."

Sakaki shook his head, astounded that she couldn't see her own handiwork caused by her 'training', even as evidence of it dripped from her hair and clothes. She was wearing dark red pants and a ripped red jacket, though he suspected it wasn't red when she entered previously . . .

"Look around you, Kinaia. Look at yourself, your clothes, your weapon. Do you think that is normal behavior for a God Eater?" He willed for her to understand; God Eaters may fight Aragami to protect humankind, but it's all for nothing if they lose their humanity along the way.

She looked at her surroundings – the walls and floor were still littered with half-dissolved Kongous, and the floor was almost coated with it. She then looked at her clothes, and then stood in silence for a few moments, letting it sink in. Sakaki gave her those moments.

When she spoke again, her voice was a lot quieter, the rage from before nonexistent, "What . . . happened? I don't remember all of this while fighting. I thought they all dissolved . . ." She was taking all of it in with shocked intensity.

Sakaki said "I think you need another break. Just until we figure out what triggered this mental breakdown. I won't tell a soul if you don't want it known." He didn't want her hurting, but he also didn't want her going berserk on a mission and mistake a teammate for an Aragami . . .

"Ok," was all Kinaia said as she let her weapon fall, still loosely in her grip. She let it drag as she walked to the elevator door, and then got inside. Sakaki sighed before pushed his glasses a little higher on the bridge of his nose. He hoped this wouldn't happen, and he still hopes it doesn't escalate. Somehow, he finds his own inner voice hollow.

Although . . . this could be a great opportunity to learn about Aragami.

**-POV Change-**

Kinaia was very lucky it was dinner time, because it meant less less of a chance that someone would see her clothes drenched in blood and more of a chance to keep this private. However, she had hid something from Sakaki when she told him she didn't remember tearing the Kongous limb from limb.

She may not have remembered doing it, but that was the exact end result she wanted.

That will have to stay a secret, no matter what. She couldn't stop, not when she finally had what she needed to protect her comrades. She had what she needed, she knew how to use it best, and she was fiercely determined.

She stepped in her room, took a fast shower, and then crawled under her bed blankets, silently deciding to sleep the day away. It might look grim now, but she would convince them that she had it under control. She had to.

* * *

A/N: So, that was quite dark, but there is a reason for it. Perhaps in about 3 or 4 chapters, I will mark the end of the first story arc, and begin a second. For the GEB players out there, I'm sure you can imagine where I'm going to cut the first arc. I feel like this should've been a one-shot, since it explains a side issue, but whatever.

I finally got around to specifically defining my OCs' physical traits, and I'll use the numbers for it.

**Kinaia**  
-Face: 6, with green eyes  
-Hair: 18  
-Hair Color: 15

From here on out, the official clothes she is going to wear:  
-Top: Blue Halter  
-Bottom: Black Thermal Pants

**Kama**  
-Face: 10  
-Hair: 2  
-Hair Color: 7

From here on out, the official clothes he is going to wear:  
-Top: Black Assault Top  
-Bottom: Black Punk Pants

EDIT: Forgot to put equip list here. Might've gotten a bit confusing without it.

**Kinaia  
**Burst Hammer: Prototype Burst Hammer (It's in the japanese-translated GE2, but i couldn't resist ;u;)  
Blast Gun: Type79 Cannon  
Shield: Common Shield II

**Kama**  
Short Blade: Fiery Knife P-Type  
Assault Gun: Yang Rifle II  
Tower Shield: Fireproof Tower II

Cheers~


	8. Under Control

Chapter 8 is up, things start to travel deeper into the rabbit hole!

* * *

Kinaia woke up at the sound of a loud knock at her door, and groggily checked the time. _Almost 10 in the morning, _she realized, then hauled herself out of bed as the voice on the other side spoke, belonging to Sakaki.

She was nervous about how this might play out, now that the adrenaline was out of her system, and told him to wait a minute as she got herself cleaned up.

A few minutes later, fully clothed and bed made, she opened the door to Sakaki, whom had a neutral facial expression. He asked "May I?" as he gestured to her room, and she shrugged.

They sat in the corner of the room, sitting in chairs that she never really had time to use. He cleared his throat, and then said "If you are willing to come to my office after the next few missions, only to evaluate your mental status, I won't see any reason to keep you from doing your job as a God Eater."

"Keep in mind," he added as she got a foul look on her face, "that though the sudden mental shift is partly due to your recent encounter with a Kongou, it might have also been amplified by the sudden change in weapons."

She was silent as he went on, "The Burst Hammer is an experimental weapon, and unstable at best. It would take a good amount of fortitude and luck to get away completely Scott-free. You understood this, and accepted the terms, so we'll skip that part. I fear you may have been affected, if not infected, by the sudden change in Oracle Cell integration. We can help if the infection is in its early stages, but once it overpowers the Bias Factor, it's all over."

"So does that mean it's unsafe to use the weapon?" Kinaia asked, not liking the direction the lecture is taking. She had practically made the weapon become an extension of her body. It would be hard to adapt back to a blade.

"Not necessarily. If you are just being affected by a sudden and violently amplified emotion, such as hatred, then all you will need is a confident. Someone to keep the feelings from being bottled to full and exploding in a rage similar to the actions in the training room yesterday."

"Try to find someone you trust, and let them know about your problem. However much you wish to tell is none of my business, but I'm sure you don't want an enraged rampage to end up hurting or killing a friend, right?" he pressed, knowing that was a sore spot of hers.

She nodded, and he smiled. "I hoped to catch you before you left on a mission today, just to make you aware of this. Be careful, and don't get too aggressive too early. If it starts getting too personal, back out and let your team support you."

Kinaia acknowledged his words, and they both left the room; Kinaia to search the available missions, Sakaki back to the lab.

She took the elevator to the lobby and almost collided with Lindow as she exited. He said "Surprise, surprise, just the person I was looking for. We have a new teammate transferred to our unit, so we're going to have two teams today. You, me, and the noob in one team; Sakuya and Kota in the other. Soma is out doing a mission in the city a few dozen miles North, so we have to make do without him."

"Our job today is a Gboro Gboro. I'm pretty sure you haven't fought one yet, so pay attention and observe everything you can," he finished, clapping his hands once for effect.

Kinaia nodded, remembering the beast Kama had fought almost a month ago. Big, thick body, large teeth like an alligator, a spiked tail connected to the body and protected by a large, curved head crest. Loved to bite and tackle enemies, but not particularly bright.

_Whatever. Its weak compared to me. It won't stand a chance._

* * *

As the teams gathered outside the Den, weapons in hand, a beeping sound was heard out of nowhere. Lindow made a face and pulled out his communicator, a handheld device instead of the basic one built into the god arc, and read it.

He narrowed his eyes, and then put it away as he said "Change of plans. Kinaia, you wait for your teammate then head to the abandoned city half a mile east of here. I just got called back to the den, and I probably won't be joining you today."

As he turned to leave, Kinaia called out "How will I recognize the new guy if I don't know his name or what he looks like?"

Lindow stopped, turned with his trademark grin, and said "You should already know him. Trust me; you'll know when you see him." And off he went, presumably to meet up with whoever called him.

Sakuya's team took off, and her mystery teammate ran up behind her after minutes of bored waiting. "Sorry I'm late, Licca had to make small repairs to my God Arc, and I- Kinaia? Why are you here?" Kama exclaimed mid-sentence.

Kinaia rolled her eyes at Lindow's brand of vague humor, and told him "I'm your teammate for this mission. Lindow got called back to the Den for important orders a few minutes ago. We have to fight a Gboro Gboro. My first time, but maybe you can give me some tips on the way?" He laughed and told her "Of course, bonehead. Let's go" as they started walking.

* * *

(watch?v=DS93aHNwY9g) (go to youtube, copy/paste to the end of the URL)

As they got to the city, they were standing on a tall ledge trying to locate the enemy. She spotted it eating metal parts in the corner of a roofless, half-destroyed house, and nudged Kama to the general direction. He nodded, and his face took on a determined quality.

Kinaia lifted her hammer to her shoulder and began to jog to the crocodile-fish-thing, building up speed for a powerful first strike.

The first rule Kama told her came to mind as she came within its large hearing range: _'Gboro Gboro hears vibrations in the ground like ripples in the water. It's nearly impossible to sneak up on it and prepare a powerful attack at the same time, so the best thing to do is charge in and try to make the first hit a powerhouse attack.'_

She dashed in, now sprinting and gripping the hammer with both hands as the beast noticed her and started to roar. It fired a ball of condensed water at her from a pillar-like horn on its head, but she sharply jagged left and dodged it by less than an inch.

It tried to fire another one, but Kinaia had gotten close enough to use her opening attack. She jumped in the air and swung down, the added explosive boost adding to her overall speed and power as she slammed the hammer into the protective shell covering its back.

Her jump coupled with the engine's thrust carried her over the beast, and as she landed, she turned to see her handiwork.

_A lot tougher than a Kongou, that's for sure,_ she thought in the second she had to examine the damage. Other than a slight dent in the plating, the end result was the beast was angry.

She gripped the hammer again, now facing behind her, as the beast charged at her. It may have had a bulky body, but it moved pretty damn fast regardless.

She twisted and dodged to the side as it passed, taking the opportunity to swing the hammer mid-twist and crush one of its legs. Only then, she realized it had several legs on each side, along with the four large legs it was crawling on.

She swore, and had to back up a few jump lengths as it tried again and again to bite her, its large teeth gnashing inches from her body.

She felt the rage start building up at her helplessness, and only allowed a little bit to escape, remembering Kama's second rule: _'It may be fast and strong, as well as dogged in its pursuit, but it's not particularly smart. If you were to buy time and distract it, I could set up a couple traps and give us a bit of an edge.' _

That's not to say she couldn't try her hardest to kill it before that point happened, oh no. Kama told her if she felt confident enough, that she could go all out and damage it as much as possible.

He needed about five minutes to stake out the best ambush spots and hide the traps, and so far only thirty seconds, give or take, had passed.

She felt one of its teeth catch on her shirt sleeve, ripping it away and leaving the shirt attached to an arm sleeve. No major damage, but she got angry at the close call.

She levered the hammer upwards, the engine propelling it into the bottom jaw of the beast and cracking several teeth. It snarled at her, broken teeth and blood spraying from its ruined mouth.

She allowed a malicious smirk and a taunt – "Come on, platypus, show me what you can do!" – to pass her 'filter', and that sent the beast over the edge.

It began a super fast onslaught of water pulses, shot from the head crest, which Kinaia had to evade or risk getting injured and creating an opening for the enraged beast.

She closed in and made a homerun swing, the hammerhead smashing against the beast's horn. It cracked, the front half getting thrown a good distance away.

She twisted the hammer after the swing and slammed it in reverse, catching the beast's other front leg this time. It damaged the shoulder, but it was still useable.

She grinned, seeing her victory draw closer and closer.

* * *

The beast actually began hurting, and it knew on a primal level this wouldn't end well.

It started randomly flailing around trying to hit everything and everywhere at once, its clawed arms and injured maw desperately trying to _end this measly little human-_

Until an electrified object slammed into the back of its neck, past the head cannon it had and the spikes on its back. It had never felt such intense pain, and it stayed still for a few moments, unable to move or think from the bullet wound.

As soon as it wore off, it ran from the two attackers, assessing its wounds.

_Broken front legs. Many slashes and cuts on its body. Its horn was broken, and its head cannon was damaged beyond use. If it could escape, it could recover. If it recovered . . ._

But as it was thinking glorious thoughts of revenge, of hard earned fresh meat filling its belly, it felt an even greater shock on its legs, and looked down to see what had happened.

There was a thin coating of electricity on the ground that had it paralyzed, unable to move. It couldn't rest, it couldn't attack, and _oh no the humans are back and I can't escape-_

* * *

Kama was impressed with Kinaia's performance. Her first fight against a Gboro Gboro, and she only got a minor scratch across her left shoulder.

It had torn the shirt and revealed bare skin beneath, but Kinaia wasn't worried about modesty, only about not letting the Aragami escape.

She taped up her arm with gauze and continued to where the beast fled, a building that looked like a sewage plant that needed serious repairs.

They walked in just in time to see the Aragami walk right into the first trap Kama had laid down, an electric field that injected nerve toxins into the Gboro Gboro's body, preventing it from moving a muscle.

It would wear off in about twenty seconds, but that was all they needed, as Kama soon found out.

He saw Kinaia dash forward, her hammer mysteriously glowing where the blasts had emerged and propelled the hammerhead forward, and was amazed at what happened next.

* * *

Kinaia didn't know what was happening, only that her engine was on and it wouldn't shut off.

As she was closing in for the kill, filled with bloodlust, the engine hadn't turned off after her side sweep, forcing her to continue the swing into a full circle spin.

As it was still on, she decided to go with the flow and continued the high-speed spins, crushing its body a little more after every spin. The face, the head crest, the tail and the spikes on the tail, everything was being destroyed.

After seven consecutive circles, the jet suddenly boosted even faster, and Kinaia twisted the hammer to arc upward, cracking the demon's jaw and sending it airborne a few inches.

The jet finally shut off, but she needed to make sure the beast was dead. She twisted the hammer while it was in midair, and pushed with all her might downward, onto the beast's exposed head.

(Song end. All ownership of this song belongs to the band that made it, 30 Seconds From Mars)

* * *

Kama had to turn away at the explosion of gore, but had to admit he was in awe of what just happened.

He had finished earlier than expected and left to alert Kinaia, but stopped and watched, curious of how she fought.

It was like a deadly waltz, a dance of teeth and blood, and Kinaia had the lead during the whole unheard song. He found it hard to believe this was only her fourth mission, and the first in over half a month of bed rest.

As Kinaia stood there, breathing heavily from the exertion of carrying out the motions, Kama walked over to her, purposefully looking away from the mess of mashed Aragami; he quickly devoured its core and gave her his jacket to cover the torn shirt.

She shook her head, and with one quick movement tore her other sleeve to match the first. Kama raised his eyebrow in confusion, but Kinaia didn't say anything other than "Nice trap. Are you ready to return to the Den?"

Kama nodded and mentally told himself to ask her later as they left the city behind.

* * *

In the den, Kinaia had told Kama she had to make a stop at Sakaki's room, but she didn't say why. _Kama is a good friend, but I'm not sure I trust him quite that much yet._ She would give it time, and deal with the bottle alone for now.

She knocked on his door, he called out "Come on in, but mind your step. Room's a bit messy" and she walked in to a snowstorm of shredded paper. "What happened, did you decide to rip paper out of boredom?" Kinaia asked, bewildered.

Sakaki, working at his desk on an intact set of papers, laughed and said "No, think of it as a visual I made for a theory I was working on. Now," he said, switching gears, "how did the mission go? Any complications?"

Kinaia made the report in detail, adding in her mental condition at regular points. Sakaki listened with a serious stare, interrupting twice for her to clarify something he didn't understand, and nodded when she was done.

"Hmm . . . the uncontrollable engine was a failsafe of sorts. Because this weapon is in its first stages of development, we couldn't find a decent recycling mechanism, like for the Charge Spear. We routed the engine to the God Arc energy cluster – It's a specific area in any God Arc, don't be alarmed – so that the Oracle Cells would be readily available."

"The problem with that is the Oracle Cells are used too slowly, compared to how you gather them when the weapon makes contact with an Aragami. Once the build-up of Oracle Cells reaches critical capacity, the engine acts similar to a pressure valve. It runs at full speed until the total capacity is about a quarter full," he finished up.

Sakaki continued on, "So you did feel rage, but it was controllable? No thoughts of anything excessively violent?" Kinaia replied "Except for wanting to kill it quickly, nothing too bad."

Sakaki made a "Hrmm" noise from the back of this throat, and told her "I think one more mission report will help me determine if you are stable or not. I'm fairly sure the training room breakdown was just because of a specific moment, but I'd like to be certain."

Kinaia nodded and smiled, thinking she was fit to continue. The intercom system blared to life, a woman saying "Earlier today, the 7th Unit successfully detached the core of an Ouroboros. All engineers, please report to lab #5." She repeated the announcement once more.

Sakaki said appreciatively "Ah, an Ouroboros core. It's been ages since we've sighted an Ouroboros, let alone retrieved its core. Excuse me," he apologized, and Kinaia took the hint and left the room.

She entered the elevator, heading up to her room, when the elevator stopped at the lobby and opened. Lindow entered, surprised by seeing Kinaia, and asked "So, how'd it go?" She answered with a wide grin and a "We didn't die, did we? I'd say it went perfect."

Lindow laughed out "Now that's what I like to hear. Keep it up, and you might even get as awesome as me!" The duo laughed until they got to Kinaia's destination, and she waved her goodbye.

She opened her door, grabbed a juice can and leftovers from last night – which Kota had brought her – from her mini fridge, and sat down at the table to eat. _Cold pizza was just as delicious as warm pizza_, she thought, putting the fight from earlier out of her mind.

When she finished, she absently noticed that she always seemed to come to her room after a mission. She never mingled with the team anymore.

With that thought bouncing around, she threw her trash away and headed over to the elevator.

* * *

When they got back to the Den, Kama had stayed out and looked on the public computer, browsed his mail, and checked the status of the current Aragami being tracked. There was much to do, and he couldn't waste time just because he finished a mission.

He hadn't even noticed he was being watched until a pair of arms was placed on his head and shoulders, followed by a voice he was starting to enjoy hearing. "Hey, hadn't heard you got back. Checking Norn again?" Kanon asked.

Kama smiled and logged off as the arms left his head. He turned to see Kanon, a smile on her face. She had her hair in a long braid, and he thought it suited her. He responded "Just checking a few odds and ends on the trackers, nothing too big. You?"

She replied "No one got hurt today, so I've been helping the Defense Unit sort out supplies for the civilians in the Outer Ghetto. Although, we might get a little busy within the next couple days, if what Soma reported is accurate," she added with a grimace.

"Oh? What happened?" Kama queried, more than a little curious. Kanon answered "He saw a humanoid figure in the city he traveled to during his mission. It could've been human, but he wasn't sure. Plus, it was just standing out in the open, completely visible to any Aragami in the area. That either means the person is ignorant of Aragami – which is impossible – or is completely unafraid."

"Either way," she continued, "that city is off limits to inexperienced God Eaters until the phenomenon is investigated." Kama narrowed his eyes, thinking. Maybe he could research it, offer to help in some way.

He walked down to Hibari, looking for a quest, when she abruptly said "Kama, Lindow was looking for you earlier. Could you go to his room? It seemed important." Kama nodded, confused but going anyways.

When he entered, Lindow was acting completely abnormal. He was pacing in his room, a look of nervousness etched on his face. Kama announced his presence by clearing his throat, and Lindow instantly looked better.

"Hey Kama, I have a bit of a favor to ask, if you're not too busy." Kama shrugged, saying he didn't have much, and Lindow lowered his voice when he continued "There are a few new God Eaters being transferred to this branch, on their way as we speak. Most likely, all of them are New-Type God Arc users like you and Kinaia." Kama's eyes widened, surprised. He thought him and Kinaia were the only New-Types.

"The Director seems to be gathering New-Types in the Far East Branch, and it's more than a little suspicious. I have no proof, and this could all just be me getting senile, but still."

"This information is confidential, by the way, so keep it sealed tight." Kama nodded, then asked "So why don't you ask him about it?"

Lindow's face screwed into a grimace, and he muttered "I find it hard to talk to the guy. He just gives off this vibe that makes me cautious. All I'm asking, if you choose to do it, of course, is to tell me if he drops any details to you. That would make me feel less suspicious about this whole thing."

Kama nodded and told him "You got it, Lindow. Any info I get, you'll know soon after." Lindow had helped him in the past; no way could Kama ignore him, even if he wanted to!

Lindow breathed a sigh of relief and said "Thanks, sport. Knew I could count on you. Head on out to the lobby, the recruits should be arriving within the hour." Kama nodded, and then hurried over to the lobby.

There were a few familiar faces sitting at the large table on the second floor. Soma was leaning against a wall, taking a nap; Tatsumi and Kanon were looking at separate computer screens; Kota and – surprisingly – Kinaia were playing Go Fish at the table.

Kama sat at the table and said "Could you deal me in? I gotta pass the time." Kota dealt him a hand, and they played a couple games. Kinaia had been eyeing him for a couple minutes now, and he asked "What's up? See something you like?" with a wink.

Kinaia scoffed and retorted "You wish, smart guy. Actually, I was wondering if you were waiting for something specific. Whenever you're timing yourself, you get this slight squint in your right eye." Kama was impressed; she was the first to get that little quirk of his right.

"Actually, yeah, I am waiting for something. I can't say what it is; It's confidential, you see. However, it's going to happen very soon, and it'll be a pleasant surprise." Kinaia nodded, satisfied with his answer, while Kota decided he wanted to know.

Suddenly a rapid version of Twenty Questions was started, Kota being one step away from getting punched by a very irate Kama. Kinaia was laughing at the looks Kama was giving Kota, and this little game continued until the gate to the God Arc storage opened, revealing four figures, three of which he hadn't seen before.

* * *

A/N: I'm gonna stop here, even when it's obvious to every GEB player what this part is. Yes, next chapter shall be a bit interesting to see, and I hope you all enjoy it.

If someone can see the reference I made to the game Monster Hunter, I will be thoroughly impressed.

I don't feel the need to post equipment sets, since nothing changed this chapter. Read the previous chapter for equipment sets.

Due to a friend's question, I will be adding various things from GE2, including what you might've noticed was my attempt at a Blood Art xP

Word count: 3865. I nearly doubled the normal chapter word count, so be happy D: (lol)

Cheers~


	9. New Recruits, Old Wounds

Kama looked up from Kota's questioning, observing the three new people. He assumed they were the recruits Lindow was talking about, and wanted to learn as much as he could.

The first was a girl, wearing a plaid skirt and a . . . rather tiny vest, covering the bare essentials. She wore thick black leggings, an arm guard on her left arm, and she wore a red plaid hat, same style as her skirt. She looked condescendingly to him, Kinaia, and Kota, and didn't look too friendly.

The second was a boy who looked to be about the same age as himself wearing a long, flowing black coat over a black long sleeve shirt, black pants with straps and chains on it, as well as armor plating on both legs from the knees down. Despite his otherwise threatening look, his face had a grin similar to Lindow's as he listened to the only known person in the group, Tsubaki, give the group a lecture.

The third was another girl, wearing a closed black winter coat that was slightly longer than her torso. She had on brown insulated pants with a few containers strapped to her belt loop, probably for extra supplies. Almost the polar opposite of the first girl, she had a nervous half smile on her face as she examined the room and the people in it. Not very excited, but neither was he when he first got here.

His examination took all of 2 seconds, and was interrupted by Tsubaki addressing the people in the room, "I have a few introductions to make. These three are New-Type Gods Eaters, and they will be joining our ranks today." She stepped back, allowing them to make their own mark.

The first girl stepped up first and announced "My name is Alisa Ilinichina Amiella. As of 1200 hours, I've been transferred from the Russia Branch. I look forward to working with you." She seemed neutral to the gathered team, almost friendly, but that was ruined a moment later when Kota stood and said "Hey, girls are more than welcome here anytime!"

Kinaia sighed at his attempt at welcoming her, as Sakuya laughed quietly to herself, still by the computers. Alisa looked like she had a fly land in her soup, and distastefully told him "I'm amazed you've survived so long around here with that frivolous attitude."

Before something else could break out, the second girl stepped up and announced "My name is Sera Rozonov, and I'm also from the Russia Branch. It's nice to meet you all, and I look forward to working with you in the future." Alisa, interrupted for the moment, took the hint and stayed quiet. Kota looked thoroughly embarrassed, and sat down as well.

Kama chuckled and said "Welcome to the team, the leader should be somewhere around here, but make yourself at home," with a welcoming smile.

Kota glared at Kama for making his entrance so much better, but wisely stayed quiet.

Sera stepped to the side, and the only boy stepped forward. He declared "I'm Arashi Muramasa, straight here from the American branch, and I can't wait to get started here!"

Yep, he definitely had enthusiasm. _This is going to be interesting,_ Kama thought, pleased that there were more people here now.

Tsubaki had begun telling the recruit's statistics, "Alisa has little actual combat experience for now, but she scored phenomenally in simulations. Arashi has an abundance of combat experience, though he has a lot to learn still. Sera's scores in medical knowledge were the top of her class, and she has a year's worth of experience under her belt. You'd best train hard and often to keep yourselves in top shape" she finished, looking at the group at the table, but glaring at Kota.

He gulped and stuttered "Y-yes ma'am." Tsubaki turned to Lindow, who had appeared without Kama noticing, and said "Lindow, I need to give you some documents on the recruits. Come with me. The rest of you," she directed at us, "can continue on with what you were doing before."

As Lindow and Tsubaki left, Kama saw Arashi head downstairs and Kota talking to Alisa, attempting to bandage the situation by asking about her homeland.

Sera stood awkwardly in the room, so Kama waved her over to the table. When she got there, he asked "I'm Kama Kotaku, and this is Kinaia Tsumi," he nodded to Kinaia, who waved once and grinned. "We were about to get started on a game of cards, would you like to join us?"

She smiled and nodded, and Kota joined again after Alisa had entered the elevator. Turns out, Sera was a **damn **good card player.

As she laughed at her winnings, an idea thought up by Kota to wager food rations, Kama laughed as well. He ended up losing rations too, but it was fun.

Kinaia had a smug look, having earned rations as well, but all she did was grin at Kama's misfortune.

Kama just ignored it and called the two recruits remaining in the lobby. "Sera, Arashi, standard procedure for recruits is to head to Doctor Sakaki's office for medical checkups. Kinaia, could you show them where to go?"

She replied "Alright. C'mon you two, I'll show you around" as she headed toward the elevator, the two recruits in tow.

Kama was feeling energetic, so he decided to take on a mission to pass the time. He examined the listed requests and saw one started by Lindow, and the targets were 2 Chi-You. Alisa was the only other person on the roster for that mission, so he joined as well.

They gathered in the God Arc storage room and were grabbing last-minute items. Alisa, the new girl, had a rather interesting weapon set.

The blade was in the long blade class, completely red. The shield was very small, also red, and he didn't see how it would protect her from anything stronger than a tackle. She morphed her weapon to gun mode to examine it, and he saw it was a large red chain gun.

Lindow waved them forward, and they took off to one of the only cities that Gods Eaters named. It was called the City of Mercy, for whatever reason.

* * *

Kinaia had shown the new members around, quietly aware that they both had more experience than her, but neither of them sounded condescending. In fact, she noticed, Sera seemed very shy when she was with Kinaia and Arashi.

Kinaia decided to try and break the ice and asked "So, what's the toughest thing you've fought?" to the two others.

Arashi excitedly said "Oh, Borg Camlann for sure. That thing is tough as nails if you don't know how to fight it!"

Sera stayed quiet, and it had the effect of spiking Kinaia's interest.

"What's wrong, Sera? Haven't fought anything tough yet?" Kinaia half-grinned, teasing.

Arashi grinned as well, but took her by surprise by asking "Well, why don't we hear the strongest thing you've fought first? Might make her loosen up a bit."

Kinaia coughed, feeling a bit embarrassed, and said "Well, I haven't been at this for long, so the strongest I've tackled is a Chi-You. However, I do hold the time record in the training room for fastest kills of hard-mode Kongous. 7 dead in less than 13 minutes."

Arashi whistled, impressed, and Sera chuckled a little bit. As the elevator opened, showing the good Doctor's office in sight, Sera said "I helped my old unit leader take down two Vajra at once. He got hurt, but we did it without anyone dying."

Kinaia stopped, suddenly feeling envy, and Arashi laughed again.

They entered the room, and Kinaia said "meet me downstairs after your examinations; we can go on a mission to see what you two can do." They nodded, and Kinaia left to go to the lobby.

_Double Vajra, huh? Sounds tough. I don't think I can handle it just yet, but soon I will,_ She silently promised herself, feeling the flare of determination inside that always came with such a promise.

* * *

Kama had been impressed by Alisa's abilities, but he worried about her attitude even more now.

The two Chi-You were finally dead, thanks to some quick thinking by Lindow for Kama and Alisa to lure the first away from the second.

Alisa . . . was probably hurting, mentally. Something was wrong, and it didn't seem like this came from nerves.

Lindow had somehow spooked Alisa without even trying, getting her skittish when he tried to reassure her. The talk with Lindow before the mission, but away from Alisa, stuck in his mind.

_Lindow quietly said "she must have a lot of mental baggage. Then again, who doesn't nowadays?" he added sympathetically. Kama nodded, still confused at her exaggerated action._

"_I want you to be her friend. Just get her to trust you, and trust her in turn. Everyone needs help, regardless of how tough they act or how unfeeling they seem." Lindow told him, and Kama agreed. "I won't leave her to deal with her problems herself. What kind of person would I be then?"_

Walking back to the Den was uneventful, and Alisa said she had to go to the medical room once they got back. Kama was a little disappointed, but dealt with it regardless.

He asked Kota where Kinaia was, and discovered she was out with the two recruits. She can just tell him how they fight, and all would be good.

Kama went to his room and spent the next few hours in his room, on his computer. There were a few battle tactics he had in mind, and he wanted them perfect for the next mission.

* * *

Kinaia, Sera and Arashi had left on a scavenge/destroy mission to a nearby beached aircraft carrier, the S.S. Ikazuchi. It had a large amount of intact materials that would help in constructing the new Residential Area for the Outer Ghetto residents, but it was also infested with Aragami.

Their job today was to gather as much as they could with their God Arcs, as well as killing a Borg Camlann. Arashi was giving her tips as they travelled to the location by helicopter.

"Okay, here's the quick version. Camlann are very feisty and fast, but predictable. It loves sweeping with its tail, and it likes to do it without warning. If you see it crouch, prepare to guard or jump."

He gestured with his hands, trying to get his point across as he continued, "it also has two shields on its arms, which are extremely thick. If it guards with both of them, try to go to the side of it and attack the legs, the back to try and cut its tail off, or shoot above the shield and hit its head."

Sera was sitting on the side of the cargo bay, leg hanging out of the wide-open door, glancing out at the ocean beneath the helicopter. Her weapon was a red knife similar to Kama's, but slightly weaker. The shield was small, shaped like an egg, and red. Her weapon was currently in the gun form, and it was a silver sniper. It had two barrels, one on top of the other, and an electric generator on each barrel. It looked pretty lethal.

Arashi was propped against the helicopter wall, with his weapon in gun form as well. The gun looked like a silver crossbow. His blade was made of Chi-You pieces, and the small blade looked like a miniature Chi-You wing. The shield was small, but reinforced and polished to a high sheen. He said it helps to reflect projectiles, and Kinaia thought he knew what he was doing.

As for her, she had her hammer upgraded using the Gboro Gboro pieces from earlier. There was no set schematic, so it took a little bit of experimenting to get it right. The final result was a hammer with two hammerheads, each equipped with an engine, the shape of the weapon now taking a Y shape.

Both of the engines were protected by a large, curved plate of oracle-infused platinum, courtesy of the Gboro Gboro's headpiece. Licca warned her about the speed increase possibly being too fast for her arms, and Kinaia worked out how hard she should grip the weapon in the Training Room. She was confident she could fight properly with the added speed.

Her shield was switched out and replaced with an Inugami shield – Basically parts from Ogretails surrounded by elemental-resistant fur. She had enough pieces to make it and upgrade it once, so it was fairly strong.

Her cannon was also switched out, now resembling the pillar of a Gboro Gboro's head. It was lighter than her old cannon, but packed much more of a punch. Coupled with the speed increase of the dual engines, it would instantly ruin any Aragami's day.

Kinaia listened carefully to Arashi's lecture, aware that she had no intention of screwing up in front of two people who were far more experienced than her. _The battlefield is my stage, and no one is going to outshine me._

They arrived soon after Arashi finished his lecture, and dismounted. The helicopter landed on a nearby island, ready to give aid to the Gods Eaters should they break something they shouldn't. This was a half-damaged ship in the middle of the sea, after all.

Sera loaded her weapon with mainly healing shots, showing a focus unlike her earlier attitude at the Den. Even Arashi had dropped the hyper act, preferring silence rather than distraction. Kinaia grabbed out her hammers, and Sera laid out the plan they made on the transport:

"Kinaia and I are going to search the top decks for anything of use, and Arashi will search below decks. The Camlann should be on top, so it's better for us to spot it rather than Arashi alone. If you hear the signal we discussed, drop what you're doing and immediately follow the ripples. Everyone clear?"

Kinaia and Arashi nodded, and they set off. Arashi found an open hatch and climbed down, while Sera and Kinaia started looking for anything useful while fending off the occasional Zygote – a flying Aragami, about the same size as an Ogretail but far more tricky to kill – and Ogretail.

Kinaia had just found several ores and plastics when she saw the effects of the signal on the ground. What they did was use a custom shot, designed by Arashi to act like a shockwave drill on contact with a hollow wall, to shoot in the direction of the other team. The shockwave would make ripples in the metal, acting as sonar with the shot origin as the center.

Kinaia rushed over damaged rails and caved-in floors to see Sera dodging a lunge from a very large armored scorpion – the Borg Camlann. She had never seen one, and she observed what she could as she rushed in. Large tail with a sharp spike at the tip, insect-like legs, a thick body, armored shell all over its body, and two shield halves on its arms.

She ducked under a tail stab aimed at her face, and spun around to give her hammer more momentum. The hammer was far faster than before, and actually made a chip in the shield as the hammer cracked against it.

The beast was undeterred, and charged at Kinaia with its wide jaws open, shields carving gouges in the ship's plating. She switched to her cannon and used a custom shot of her own: A close-range exploding shot that was more for when the enemy was too close to swing her hammer. She ran at the beast, sliding under it, aiming at its face when she fired her bullet.

She neglected to remember her engines when she made the shot, and it almost cost her badly. The shot went through the jaw of the beast, but pierced through the top of its head before exploding. The concussion shockwave didn't do much damage to the scorpion-like beast, but shrapnel and fire almost hit her as the beast charged onward.

Sera yelled "Don't take needless risks, Kinaia! If you can't fire properly, stick to what you know!" as she shot the beast with the drill shot. It carved a hole partly through one of its shields, and the Camlann roared in anger.

Kinaia got up, feeling the rage build, and switched back to her hammer. Arashi was nowhere to be seen, and she hoped he was only being held up by Aragami.

She charged into the demon, having to jump to avoid a tail sweep, and swung downward at the base of its tail. Definitely some damage, as part of the tail broke and at least one of the Camlann's legs deformed, unbalanced and crushed by the weight of the smash.

It screeched in pain, and then swiped at her with the blunt side of its shield, knocking her quite a distance away and winding her even with her shield deployed. She got up slowly, getting her breath back, as she thankfully spotted Arashi distracting the beast.

Her vision started getting red around the edges, and she found it hard to breathe. This fight was dragging on far too long, and Kinaia's filter was taking a beating. Even now, she felt the need to _crush this demon like the bug it was modeled after._

She gritted her teeth, clenched her hands around the hammer, and charged in once more. She wouldn't keep getting smacked around like this, not if she could help it. Arashi saw her coming and dodged out of the way for some reason.

_Whatever. Time to finish this with a definite ending._

* * *

Arashi was not having a very good time on this mission. He heard the Spiral Shot he designed immediately after it was shot, but so did a few Blazing Ogretails. He had to get into a wide open room, since he couldn't swing his sword in the narrow hallways of the ship.

After dispatching the pests, he rushed to the nearest ladder to the deck, and surfaced just in time to see Kinaia fly past him, shield activated but not helping her as she skidded along the floor. He was glad no one was hurt too badly, but that could change quickly if he didn't stop the Aragami from _flinging Sera off the edge_.

He didn't know how it grabbed her, wrapped her around its tail like a snake would, but he didn't care as he quickly dashed in and slashed an obviously-broken leg. The Camlann fell, letting Sera fall to the floor, and made scuttling motions as it tried to get back up.

Arashi helped her up and asked "What's the situation?" Sera looked panicked as she said "Kinaia keeps ignoring when I call her, and keeps charging in. I don't think she can hear me!"

Arashi was confused, but it would have to wait. The Camlann got back up and somehow balanced itself on its three remaining legs. He dodged a charging tackle from the Camlann and made a few nicks to the lone back leg. It didn't do much, but it was something.

Arashi saw Kinaia sprinting, hammer held underhand, and called "Kinaia, wait! Don't just charge in!" She didn't stop, and he noticed the killing intent in her eyes and the glowing of the two engines.

He dodged out of the way and switched to a gun, cursing his luck. "Sera, hold your fire until Kinaia gets out of the way!" He watched, fully expecting the worst, and was shocked into silence. "What the . . ."

* * *

Sera had seen a lot of things. She had seen people killed, both by humans and Aragami. She had killed Aragami, big and small, in many different ways. She had seen people get infected by Aragami, and had to put down several herself. A few of which she knew personally.

She was shocked into silence, seeing Kinaia swing the hammer. It didn't make sense, no matter how she looked at it.

Around the hammer was a dark red aura of streams, like an air current. It surrounded Kinaia's swinging arm, giving it a reddish glow. The engine had also changed, dark purple pieces of infection spreading along the engine seal.

The engine engaged as she swung again, eyes filled with blind hate, and the exhaust was tainted a dark red, rather than the previous greenish white. It shot forward far faster than normal, smashing into the armored arms of the Aragami . . . and smashing it to pieces in one blow, crystalline pieces of infection actually spreading to its arms.

The engine didn't cut off, however, and Kinaia must've known it would happen because she kept up the spin, cracking more and more pieces off after every spin. It was extremely fast, and it seemed Kinaia was coated in the blood of the beast.

Not only did she ignore it, she had a massive, wide-toothed grin on her face the whole time. After about 12 spins and extreme damage to the body of the Camlann, the engine flared brighter, a bright red similar to blood, and Kinaia swung upward, carried with the hammer into the air as it knocked the Aragami into the air.

Kinaia screamed in rage as she twisted the hammer in the air and rocketed down, slamming it into the main carapace of the beast. Luckily, the floor caved in when they landed, so all she heard was a sickening **CRUNCH** and a deafening **CLANG** of the hammer hitting the floor, metal screeching in protest.

It was silent for a short time, neither Sera nor Arashi moving or speaking. The silence was shattered, however, as Arashi dashed to the hole, calling out "Kinaia! Are you alright?!" She followed suit after, concerned and more than a little scared.

Kinaia was sitting against the wall, knees up, head in her lap. She raised her head when Arashi called, and Sera thought she saw a red gleam in her eyes. Kinaia got up slowly and climbed out of the hole, and her eyes were just green, tears streaming down her face.

_Just a trick of the light. Maybe my own nerves playing tricks on me._ She brushed it off, helping Kinaia clean up and bandage her wounds. Arashi kept his distance, hiding the action by calling in the radio for pickup.

* * *

Kinaia's mind was both crystal clear and blurred during the onslaught. She knew what she was doing, purposefully avoiding both Sera and Arashi, and sparing them the gore by breaking through the floor.

Her body acted on its own, though her mind directed her actions. She had never felt so . . . _**alive**_.

The feeling of absolute dominance, of destroying the target of her rage, was intensely satisfying during the attack. After the attack ended, standing in the middle of a mass of gore, she felt her conscience kick in.

She had to slump against the wall because her legs refused to carry her any further. She rested her head on her legs, feeling a burning sensation on her arm. When she looked, however, it stopped, her arm looking the same as always.

She knew her mind was damaged. She knew it was probably only a matter of time before she made a mistake, one that she wouldn't be able to fix or live with. She knew, if she couldn't control herself, she would be held back.

She knew all of this, and she knew she had to tell someone. She took Sakaki's advice to heart now, afraid of hurting her comrades in the future. Both Sera and Arashi had seen her lapse of sanity, so it's not like she could pretend to be normal around them now.

Maybe they would understand. She had to try, regardless.

* * *

Arashi's mind swirled with new knowledge, as well as old memories. They flooded his mind, and he thought on them as he radioed the helicopter for a mission complete.

_His childhood, ten years old, running through dark mining tunnels, his father's spare pickaxe in hand. He heard the loud crash, grabbed the pick, dashed into the tunnel, prepared to help. Stopping in a wide room, an elevator shaft in the back, broken machinery against the walls, bloodied bodies in the room. A giant crystallized tail disappearing up the shaft, dark purple crystals on and around the dead bodies._

_His parents, slain during their shift in the 'safe' mine tunnels, gathering more ore to keep the town powered. His screams of emotional pain, disbelief, desperation, unheard in the deep tunnels._

_Two months later, living in an orphanage. Kids with similar histories; parents slaughtered by Aragami. Low living standards, even lower than the living standards in an unshielded Outer Ghetto. Making three friends, vowing to stick together, make the Aragami pay, protect anyone else from suffering their fate._

_Six and a half years later, all four teens called by Fenrir, sent to the American Branch, far from their homeland, Japan. All four passed the aptitude test, only Arashi was a New-Type. They had each other's backs, never letting one get too deep into sadness or fear. They completed every mission with flying colors. Times looked good._

_Three months later, a mission horribly misjudged. Four Gods Eaters sent in, him and his friends. Supposed to be a simple mission, 'Kill 3 Ogretails, secure building resources'. Snowy mountains, boarded up village, no one else alive. The four were alert, cautious, located the Ogretails, mission complete._

_An unknown Aragami, a large scorpion with purple crystals on its tail, crystallized head crest, large body, large tri-pronged claws. Appeared from the mountain, no one saw it coming. No one prepared when it struck._

_Orion was impaled through the chest, died quickly. His corpse, thrown at Aisuru, both fell off the mountain, her screams fading as they fell. Arashi and Mara standing, prepared to fight, ready to avenge their friends. A large crystal shower, coming from everywhere at once. Mara decapitated, her silver hair dyed in red, her body falling, covered in fast-growing purple crystals._

_Arashi in pain, both physical and mental, crystals stabbed in his body, the snow making him drowsy. The creature, whatever it was, gone. Back to its home, carnage achieved. Arashi crawled to Mara's body, cried against her unmoving chest. Got up, limped to the mountain edge , saw a stream at the bottom. Aisuru nowhere to be seen._

_The sheer depression, the blinding rage, the need to punch something, __**anything**__, a burning need. A scream; a lonely, broken-hearted scream, echoing over the lonely mountains. Weeks turned into months, the stabbing pain in his heart fading to a dull burn, never truly disappearing. Enduring, hoping to end the war that took his friends, his family, his love._

_Report of Transfer: Three months after the incident with 'Aragami X', Director of Den 'Blastula', Samuel D. Sanagram, recommended New-Type God Eater __**Arashi Muramasa**__ for transfer to Far East Den 'Inuzuma'. Director of Den 'Inuzuma', Johannes V. Schicksal, accepted recommendation._

His mind raced a million miles an hour as what he saw, but wasn't there anymore, registered with what he knew.

_Purple crystals, infecting an Aragami on contact._

_His parents, slaughtered in the tunnels, purple crystals on them and around them._

_His friends, murdered by an Aragami with crystals on its skin, crystals growing on Mara's corpse._

He had to warn Sakaki, before it was too late. He thought it was infection, but Kinaia wasn't dead or in obvious pain, so he wasn't sure. The look in her eyes wasn't human, though. Not during the attack.

Arashi was torn between wanting to help Kinaia, wanting to warn Sakaki, and reminiscing about past times, old wounds being ripped wide open.

* * *

On the helicopter, Kinaia sat still, head down, hands on her knees. Sera watched her from the corner of her eye, making sure she didn't go berserk or transform. She wasn't sure what she saw, but it couldn't have been natural.

Unaware of Arashi's internal conflict, her mind wandered back to her past, as well.

She had always been alone, ever since she could remember. She was the odd one in the Arigami orphanage, preferring to help people instead of wanting to hurt Aragami, like all of her peers. She was an outcast in a town that had its fair share of tragedy.

She had no recollection of any memories of her childhood. She was told she was found by the body of her mutilated mother, but she didn't remember that, either. When she was 14 years old, her orphanage was attacked by a pack of Vajra. There wasn't any warning, and no one else survived.

She only survived because one of the adults, a kind woman that Sera had thought of as her mother, pushed her into a locker and told her to be quiet. There was no time for the adult to hide, and the Aragami killed her as well.

She always felt uncomfortable when she saw death, more so than the average person. Regardless if the dead being was human or Aragami, she always hated it. She was a healer; she was supposed to protect life, not end it. Life has its cruel ironies, however, and forces her to kill beasts of demonic nature to protect her loved ones.

As she sat on the edge of the helicopter, watching the girl who had literally been infected and survived unaltered . . . It was like an omen to her. Like she may have escaped this time, but soon she would reach the moment where she couldn't be saved. Sera hoped it wasn't going to end that way, but she wasn't so naïve that she believed hoping would assure a happy ending.

* * *

Kinaia sat in silence, doing the opposite of the other two and emptying her mind. Sakaki's advice echoed insistently in her mind: _if you keep it bottled up, without telling anyone and getting help, it's only going to get worse. Do you truly want to lose control and end up injuring a comrade, or worse?_

_No, I don't. I refuse to allow myself to harm the ones I'm fighting for._

She spoke up, hesitantly, "I have . . . something to tell you two. I'm sure you already saw it, though." She watched them focus on her, and forced herself to continue, "Sakaki is already aware of my . . . mental condition. It's a short, personal story that I don't feel comfortable sharing right now, but the bottom line is: the Burst Hammer is experimental, injecting new oracle cells into me along with the ones I previously had. We strengthened my Bias factor and trained my mind, but sometimes the dam breaks. I'm in control of my actions, but . . . my mind goes into a bloodlust. It's happened three times so far, but this one was the worst. Please, keep this to yourselves. I don't want everyone to think I'm uncontrollable." She paused, and then added "I'll tell them when I'm ready. So please don't tell anyone."

She was met with silence from the two God Eaters, and Sera nodded, saying "Ok, I'll keep it to myself. We all have our own personal problems, and I'll respect your request." Arashi was silent for a little longer, and nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll take your word for it. But," he added, leaning forward a little, "If you lose control and harm someone, or worse, we'll have to take the mind frame that you're infected. Be very sure you keep the insanity under wraps, because I really don't want to kill an infected comrade."

The rest of the ride was endured in awkward silence, and Kinaia wondered how much longer her mind would last.

* * *

A/N: Reviews? Constructive criticism? Tell me your thoughts!

Cheers~


	10. Crossed Paths, Divided Tales

EDIT: If anyone reading this is a Monster Hunter fan as well, there's this interesting fanfic by a friend of mine. It's a very interesting read, and also somewhat inspired me to make this. The fanfic is called Sky Kings, by Lady Darkness Diamond. She doesn't update very often, but perhaps more views and reviews would tempt her to make more, faster?

And another Gods Eater Burst fanfic that blew my mind: Memories of Brighter Days by Lushard. It's one of the few that had me hooked early in the story, and I thought some extra views and reviews here would get Lushard in a good enough mood to make some more fanfics xD

If either of you are reading this, can't wait for your next chapters! Keep up the amazing stories!

* * *

Over the past couple days, Kama noticed a definite shift in Kinaia's attitude, as well as the recent transfers, Sera and Arashi, attitudes toward her.

Sera liked to spend a lot of time with Kinaia, just talking or eating with her. It seemed she was being nice to Kinaia in particular. _Maybe just girl bonding, or something._

Arashi, on the other hand, avoided her like the plague. He would immediately leave the room when Kinaia entered, or flat out ignore her presence when he couldn't leave the room. Kama was concerned, but thought against intervening. _Kinaia wouldn't thank me for butting into her problems, and I have to trust them to work it out on their own._

Kinaia had probably changed the most. Where she used to be energetic, smiling, and playful, she was now quiet, a look of perpetual gloom on her face. He really wanted to know what was bugging her, but again, she might not appreciate him being nosy.

_She'll work it out, and she knows I'm always willing to hear her problems. I'll let her choose the time,_ he decided, putting it out of his mind. There was an important mission to do today, and Lindow was very adamant that we worked our hardest.

The mission involved killing a rarely-seen but extremely dangerous species of Aragami called Vajra. Being large, strong, and fast, as well as it's mastery over electrical attacks, makes it even more important that he focus on the here and now.

That was about half an hour ago, and since then the Vajra Elimination group had trekked to the city Kama had gone to earlier, the City of Mercy. The team tasked with the mission were Kama, Kota, Sakuya, Lindow, Soma, and Alisa. Arashi and Sera were out on temporary loan to the Defense Unit, on alert due to a new type of Aragami spotted.

Kama hadn't seen it himself, but someone said it looked distinctly like a scorpion. _Maybe a pan-out of the Camlann species?_ It happened often enough, even though the creatures had more than enough ways to kill humans.

Kama, Alisa, and Lindow were to search downtown while Kota, Sakuya, and Soma were to search the outskirts. The City of Mercy may have been one of the few recognized places for Gods Eaters, but that didn't make it any less confusing to navigate.

Eventually, after about an hour of going through alleyways and searching, Lindow reported seeing the Vajra near the town square. It would take the second team at least a half hour to get there, but Kama and Alisa were about five minutes away. They rushed to the scene, preparing for a tough fight.

When they got there, Lindow was in a stalemate with the Aragami, his shield protecting him against a particularly sharp set of claws. The Vajra resembled a sabre-toothed tiger from ancient history. Long teeth, especially the canines. Large paws, and long claws. A large flap of oracle cells on its back, acting as a cape. Its limbs had golden armor plates on them, stylized and regal. As him and Alisa aimed and fired at its back, distracting it away from Lindow, they saw the cape had absorbed the bullets, making them useless.

It roared, loud and angry, and leaped at Alisa, who was reloading. Kama activated his shield and ran directly at the Vajra, slamming the shield against its shoulder plate and knocking it off balance. "Be careful, Alisa. Don't give it any openings!" he ordered, then swore as he had to dodge, the Vajra running alongside him to rake it's claws where he stood a second ago.

Kama had his blade up and ready, having upgraded it to Fiery Knife II, and stayed back, observing the Vajra's movements. He wasn't going to charge in until he knew what the Vajra could do.

It fired a ball of electricity from its mouth, which was easily avoided, and tried to pounce again. Alisa jumped to the side, but Kama dashed forward, narrowly avoiding the claws and managing to score a free across its stomach, a large gash opening up from chest to tail.

It roared in pain, then turned on its back legs and swiped at Kama, catching him off guard and knocking him into the wall of the large building next to him.

He glanced at his arm as he got his breath back, noting the damage. His shoulder armor pad was ripped away, but at least it prevented his body from getting clawed to shreds. He got back up, mindful of his now-bare arm.

The Vajra leaped again, this time aiming for Alisa, who dashed to the side again. Only, the Vajra was learning this tactic of theirs and reached its paw out, catching the side of Alisa's head and throwing her to the ground.

Lindow, who had a gash across the right side of his body, charged and made a homerun swing, the chainsaw teeth catching and ripping off the back leg's armor plating. Kama activated his God Arc as he charged and had it rip a large chunk off the now-unprotected back leg, causing the Vajra to stumble away, leaving Alisa in one piece.

She got up, visibly shaking, and Lindow started bandaging his side. The Vajra wasn't done yet, but it left to rest and recuperate. They couldn't give it the chance.

Kama and Lindow chased the unaware Vajra, leaving Alisa to aim with her gun, and attacked it without mercy, slashing its face and tail. The Vajra had apparently grown tired of this fight, and it's head crest – barnacles, or stone, whatever it was – started glowing, as did its claws and cape. Lindow yelled "Watch out, it's trying to wipe us out in one shot!"

The Vajra summoned several balls of electricity, which hovered in place in front of it before shooting off, homing in on both Kama and Lindow. They were pulsing with lethal promise, the crackle of electricity abnormally loud.

Kama had no time to guard, so he ducked under it and dashed to the Vajra, sliding under it as the electric orbs kept following him and ended up colliding with the Vajra's face. Dust was thrown into the air as the shockwave hit the Vajra, electricity dancing across it's unprotected face.

It screamed a loud, pained noise, and then dashed off, attempting to get away. Just then, Lindow's communicator activated, with Sakuya's voice reporting "We're five minutes away, nearing the Chapel. We heard an explosion, are you three alright?"

Lindow told her "Yeah, Kama got a bit creative with lightning balls. Alisa is behind the chapel, group up and we'll meet you there." Sakuya said "Roger" before cutting the transmission. Lindow put the device away and said "C'mon, this will be easy."

Kama told him "Yeah, but it'd suck if we let our guard down. One mistake would turn an easy mission into a funeral." Lindow nodded, getting serious again, and they ran to the church in the center of town.

All six grouped up, and they decided to check the inside of the church. Perhaps the beast was inside? They turned the corner to unexpectedly see Kinaia, Sera and Arashi coming around the opposite corner, weapons out and ready.

Kama was confused, and when they got closer, he asked "Nine God Eaters for a Vajra? Seems a bit overkill, doesn't it?" Kinaia was just as confused, and said "Vajra? We were tasked to hunt down the unknown Aragami type located earlier today. You know, the scorpion one?" Kama nodded.

"Since we're all together, we might as well stick together," Lindow announced, and everyone nodded. "Kama, Alisa, Kinaia, you're with me. Everyone else, stay outside and watch our backs." He said, to which everyone agreed.

Arashi abruptly said "Wait," which made Lindow stop. "Be careful in there. All of you." Arashi continued, staring meaningfully at Kinaia. She scowled and turned abruptly, saying "Are we going in, or not?"

Kama's eyebrow rose, and he shrugged, going in with Alisa and Lindow. Without warning, Kinaia screamed, causing Kama to sprint.

Lindow yelled "stay outside, we can handle this!" before rushing as well, Alisa already just inside the main room, eyes wide open in shock, hand covering her mouth.

Kama got inside, and what he saw made his heart drop, as well as make him instantly enraged.

The scorpion everyone was worked up about was easily taller than the Vajra, with a large cluster of purple crystals at the tail tip, bent over its head. It had a dark purple, almost black, carapace; its numerous eyes were red, and seemed to glow. Its back was ridged; its face had two large pincers near its mouth. The two claws had three points each, thick and connected, curving inward, with massive crystals at the base of each claw.

One of said claws currently had Kinaia trapped, cutting into her.

Kama yelled angrily and charged, feeling angrier than he ever had before. He slashed the claw that held Kinaia, breaking one of the prongs and loosening its grip.

( watch?v=WYk3jum1Xcg&playnext=1&list=PL52996FA48347CED5&feature=results_video)

The insect roared – actually roared, like the Vajra – and threw Kinaia over into the far corner. Kama started to run toward her, calling out, until the beast threw him back to the entrance with a massive tail swipe.

He skid across the floor, past the giant hole leading to the small corridor, and came to a rest next to Alisa, who was standing still and muttering unintelligible words. He got back up and assessed the situation, his gun out, taking cover by the hole entrance.

Lindow was still fighting in the room, a Prithvi Mata having entered as well, and Kinaia was yelling in pain, still in the corner. Kama made to run for her, see if he could help before the scorpion attacked again, but Kinaia yelled "No! No, you idiot! Go! Run away, before it's too late!"

It was at that moment that he saw she was clutching her weapon arm at the wrist, and saw the cog extremely damaged; the interior was jetting out black smoke, obviously badly damaged.

"No . . ." Kama said quietly, unable to believe it. "No! We can help! Please, just let me-"Kinaia interrupted him, screaming "Don't come in here! Run, get away, you retard! Get out of here-!" her voice turned into a loud screech of pain as her armlet burst into pieces, black smoke surrounding her arm. Her hand was already transformed, deep red spikes in place of her skin.

It was then that Alisa shot the roof of the hole, collapsing the ceiling and trapping Lindow in the room with the Aragami and an infected Kinaia.

* * *

Lindow knew, from the moment he saw Kinaia's armlet crack as she slammed against the wall, that she was toast. Perhaps even him, if that thing got a hold on him. He dodged a tail slam against the ground, dashing in to cut into its shell.

His chainsaw completely failed to grab hold, and the teeth of his blade were left to skid on the unbelievably hard carapace. It was at that moment that he heard Kinaia scream, and he chanced a look to see her infected arm, the black veins travelling across her body, the look of terror on her face.

He had to put his attention back to the battle as another beast jumped in, a Prithvi Mata. _As if I didn't have enough to worry about,_ he inwardly complained. And to make it worse, he could hear more roars outside.

The next moment, he heard Alisa scream, a loud gunshot, and saw the only way out sealed by a ceiling collapse. There were dozens of large rocks and ceiling fragments in the way, impossible to move quickly, and he knew his time just ran out.

The scorpion was transfixed on Kinaia, who already had a completely transformed arm and vines all throughout her body. It screeched, climbing the walls and escaping from the large hole in the wall.

The hole was way too high up to use for an escape, and he couldn't anyways, as seconds later the Prithvi Mata closed in on him, smelling the fear and terror in the room and working itself into a frenzy. A second had jumped in the room, and a third balanced on the edge of the hole, ready to jump in as well.

It looks like it really was time to die. At least Kinaia had stopped screaming, though that could mean he only had seconds to live.

He gripped his weapon painfully tight, prepared to go down swinging.

* * *

Kama pounded on the collapsed wall, refusing to accept what he just saw.

_That quickly. They lost Lindow and Kinaia that quickly, all to a single Aragami._

He didn't even notice the tears falling from his face, screaming Kinaia's name, Sakuya yelling at Alisa, or Alisa cowering in the corner. He was too angry to see, to think.

_It shouldn't have happened like this. Not like this._

* * *

Arashi and Sera had chased the scorpion, attempting to kill it before it escaped. None of their weapons had any effect, and the creature was too fast to chase for long. Soon, the duo tired and the scorpion escaped.

Sera started crying, leaning against the wall in despair. She just witnessed her new friends, her comrades, die, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. What use was medical training if you couldn't even save who you cared for?

Arashi dropped to his knees and started punching the ground, chanting "Damnit, Damnit, Damnit . . ." unable to believe history had just repeated itself. The thing that took his parents lives, his comrades lives . . . just took two more lives.

He swore he would hunt this beast down and destroy every trace of its existence.

He got over his immediate rage seconds later as two Prithvi Mata's engaged the duo, and he grabbed Sera's wrist, yelling "C'mon, we have to get back to the others!" Through her tears, he could see the fires of anger, and she nodded.

* * *

Kama eventually had to stop punching the wall, his knuckles bleeding and probably broken. He had to accept it; it's what she would've wanted. Doesn't mean he had to like it, at all.

At the moment he calmed into a quiet rage, Soma declared, "Shit, we're about to be surrounded! Incoming!" he added, as a white and light-blue version of Vajra, a female face, vaguely human-looking, lunged into the building, cornering Kama, Sakuya, and the still cowering Alisa.

"God damn it! Get out of my way!" Kama yelled, charging at it with reckless abandon and slashing its legs as Sakuya fired blaze shots into its face, making the Prithvi Mata back off, in pain. They had a few seconds left before they got into a very bad position, and Lindow used the time to issue one final order.

"Take everyone back to the Den. That's an order." Sakuya pleaded with him to reconsider, "We can get you out! Please, we-"but Lindow harshly told her "Didn't you hear me?! Get everyone out of here and home, damn you!" Sakuya was quiet, crying but angry.

"Sakuya, take charge! Soma, find a way out of here!" Lindow yelled, to which Soma nodded even though Lindow couldn't see him. Sakuya said "Please, come with us! We can get you out!"

Lindow put on a brave front, declaring "I'd like to, but I think I'll mess around with these guys, first. Kinaia is having a blast over here, and I'd hate to spoil the fun. Save some rationed beer for me!"

Kama numbly got Alisa to her feet, working on a plan in his emotionally-ruined head, as Sakuya desperately cried "Then I'll stay and fight with you!"

Lindow told her "Sakuya, please. Get everyone home alive. That's an order." She yelled out "No!" and Kota told her to move, because "more are coming! We have to get out while we still can!"

Lindow addressed Kama and told him in a low voice, "You wanted to learn how to protect everyone. Sometimes, things just don't work out the way we plan. Don't grieve for too long. I might have no say in it, but you've already proven yourself to be a great leader."

Kama yelled back at him "Don't give me that shit! Just make sure you two come back alive!" unwilling to accept it even now, going with Lindow's illusion.

He chuckled without humor, and said "You got it, kid. But until that time, watch over the team. I trust you completely."

Kama hesitated for a second more, yelled "If you die, I swear I'll find a way to kill you again!" and ran with the team as Soma opened up a small path in the swarm.

Mother of God, there were at least ten Prithvi Matas, more on the way, all attacking, all eager to join in on the massacre.

Right now, Sakuya was distraught, almost all of her shots missing, her distress too deep. Soma was wildly flinging his blade around, too angry to think tactically. Kota was starting to panic, overwhelmed by the deaths of his leader, his best friend, and the sheer amount of Aragami. He didn't bother including Alisa in his plans right now, but at least Sera and Arashi looked angry, but focused.

Kama's face darkened, knowing Sakuya wouldn't be able to lead them safely out in her condition, and he gave out orders, hoping his friends didn't question, only acted. "Soma, Arashi, protect the front. Sakuya, Sera, take the rear and keep them off of us. Kota, take the left, I'll take the right."

The team grouped up; Soma and Arashi picking at any of the Aragami that got too close, Sera and Sakuya protecting the rear of any sneak attacks, Kota protecting the side that seemed to have the least amount of Aragami, and Kama taking the side that seemed to have the **most**. Alisa wasn't responding to anything, so Kama had her in the center.

"Lindow gave us his last order, now let's follow it. Everyone, don't take risks and stay alive!" he yelled as he ran, not even ordering Alisa to do anything. She probably wouldn't be able to follow a trail of breadcrumbs in this condition, so she had to be protected as well.

It was a haphazard formation, but it was the best Kama could think of at the moment. That was acceptable only if everyone else survived.

They ran forward, staying together, working smarter and more efficiently now that they had orders from someone who at least **sounded **like he was confident. In reality, Kama was just as angry and scared as the rest of them.

He had specific motivation, however.

He was going to stay alive, and he was going to keep everyone else alive as well. He had to, if the Far East branch wanted information on the scorpion. They need a way to fight the thing; otherwise more people would die trying to learn how to fight it.

They reached the city border, the Prithvi Mata's having given up their pursuit upon seeing a group of fleeing Ogretails, chasing them instead for easier food. Kama breathed a little easier, but he was still worried about their chances.

Kota was a little calmer and far angrier, now that the immediate danger was past. He also looked borderline paranoid, aiming his gun at every shadow and unexpected sound.

Sakuya looked like hell, and no one commented on it, knowing the reason why. Kama didn't know how close she was to Lindow, but he thought it was closer than just friends, if she begged to stay and die with him.

Soma looked depressed, dragging his blade along the dirt, and Kama remembered the budding relationship between him and Kinaia. He felt truly sorry for him.

Alisa was somewhat back to normal, in that she was paying more attention to her surroundings and keeping watch with her gun. Too little too late, but he would give her another chance when her mind was in a better place.

Also, he made a promise to Lindow, and he would honor it. _I'll stay as her friend, and I'll help her if I can. We all make mistakes, and no one needs to be an outcast in a world like this._

Sera was quiet, her eyes focused only in front. He wasn't familiar enough with her to know how she would be thinking, but he knew she had to be hurting from this.

Arashi was the exact opposite, venting his anger on the wall of an unfortunate building every so often. He was similar to Kinaia, in that he was unbelievably furious when he lost control, but he wasn't showing nearly as much destructive tendencies as Kinaia.

It wasn't the most promising of sights, truth be told.

(Song end - You might finish the story before it's done, so try and place each event where it should go. All rights to the song go to the newgrounds user "HalcyonicFalconX")

* * *

They got home about ten minutes later, bruised, cut, bloody, and the overall mood was defeated. The few people in the lobby were curious, but afraid of the answer as they saw Kinaia and Lindow missing.

Kota stayed with Kama as everyone else left to their own rooms without a word. He was quiet, thinking, and muttered, "I don't know about you, but I won't give up so easily. She . . . wouldn't have wanted that."

Kama sighed quietly, and then patted Kota's shoulder, reassuring him. "Things are dark now, but it will get better as time goes on. She was one of my best friends, and I'm planning on honoring her by continuing the fight."

Kota nodded, saddened but determined. Kama said his farewells, and left to the Directors office, not looking forward to the report he had to make.

* * *

A/N: I'm saddened to have to do that to my favorite OC, but it is part of the storyline. I also have a slight surprise, for anyone who cares: I'm going to make a few one-shots to describe a different PoV of my favorite scenes in this fic. It will be far later, and it will be brief snippits of a few of my favorite parts of some chapters. It won't be anytime soon, but expect it before Summer, for sure.

This one is shorter because it signals the end of the first story arc. The second will begin a week after the events of Moon in the Welkin, because I'm just not feeling confident about writing that report with the right amount of feeling o3o . . .

Cheers~


	11. Connecting

Time flies when you don't pay attention, I guess… Sorry about the long wait, a mix of brain farts, school exams, and filling in plot holes kept me from updating xD

Hope you enjoy~

* * *

It's been a month since that disastrous mission. Rescue missions were numerous in number. However, after half a month, everyone besides those in Unit 1 had given up hope.

After a month, only Squad 1 continued, and even then, enthusiasm and hope were low.

For Kama, it was something to learn from. Every mission he was on, he kept track of the small details, the ones that would slip by without anyone noticing. Those tended to be the important ones.

He was worried about his team, who had all changed from the mission that resulted in Kinaia's and Lindow's probable deaths.

There was Sakuya, who had crumbled and was slowly making her way back to her original self.

Kota as well, who was more determined than ever to prevent a repeat of the Moon in the Welkin disaster, and consistently trained himself to be silent and observant.

Soma, who was more fierce and sullen, and Kama didn't quite trust him not to do something stupid.

Kama had tried going to her hospital room several times in the past month, but every time was stopped at the door by her doctor, a Russia-branch transfer named Daigo Oguruma. He was a quiet man and was rarely seen outside of the Executive floor in the Den.

Kama returned from another unsuccessful search mission, and immediately walked to Hibari to go on another. When she saw him, however, she told him "I just got word from Dr. Oguruma: Alisa is stable for now, and is able to see supervised visitors."

Kama smiled and thanked her, then walked upstairs to the elevator.

When he got to the clinic, Dr. Oguruma was waiting for him outside.

"I gave Alisa some heavy tranquilizers about an hour ago. She won't be waking up anytime soon, but you can go in. I hear talking to unconscious patients helps them." Kama nodded at the information, and walked in the room with the doctor.

Alisa was sleeping on her back, her silver hair tangled and spread around her head. Kama took a seat in the chair next to the bed, and sat in silence for a moment. He was hoping to be able to talk to her, but at least she wasn't screaming, like earlier attempted visits.

He sighed, massaging his temples with his right hand, and when he opened his eyes again he noticed her arm was hanging off the bed. _Don't want her arm to cramp up when she wakes up,_ he mentally mused, and reached to pick up her arm and put it on the bed.

As soon as he grabbed her arm, he felt a very bizarre feeling, like a mental electric shock. Images, pictures, flooding his mind with a sense of panic. They flashed by too fast for him to see, but he knew for a fact they were not his.

As abruptly as the feeling arrived, it disappeared without a trace. He heard a feminine groan, and looked up to see Alisa, eyes half open.

She murmured groggily "What . .? Where am I . .? Why am I . .?"

Oguruma got up quickly, exclaiming "S-she actually regained consciousness? Impossible! E-excuse me!"

Kama watched him quickly walk out of the room, pulling out a communicator as the door closed.

He looked back to Alisa, only to see her asleep again. His eyes narrowed in frustration, as well as confusion. _What was that just now?_

He left, catching the last bit of Oguruma's conversation on the communicator as he left the room, ". . .I see. Then I'll leave her as is for now. If you'll excuse me."

Kama walked to the elevator and traveled to the lobby, planning on killing some time on a mission. He went to Hibari and got a mission in an anonymous city.

The targets were a Kongou and a Borg Camlann. The team was quickly assembled, and they took off via helicopter.

* * *

When they reached the city, Kama checked his team, making sure they were focused.

Gina Dickenson, a sniper Old-Type with one eye, was watching out in case of an ambush; Sera Rozonov, the Russian New-Type medic, was quietly adjusting her gun barrels; Brendan Bardell, an Old-Type buster blade user, was leaning against a wall, waiting for the plan to be made.

Kama pulled out a roughly-drawn map of the area, and called the team over. ". . .If we go here, and you go there, we can nail him here. And you can scout the area for the other guy . . ."

The team nodded and ran in different directions, setting the plan up.

* * *

The Kongou was scouting its territory, searching for the intruders it knew were here.

A nearby Aragami had told it about humans coming to hunt them, and it grinned with joy. _Let them come, They will provide a good meal._

It rounded a corner, catching a smell of human scent, and was blinded by a bright light and a loud noise.

It screamed, scratching at its ears and eyes, unable to detect it's assailant or defend itself.

It never felt the blade that severed its head.

* * *

Kama and Gina finished off the Camlann fairly easily, catching it off-guard while it was sleeping. As Kama devoured the Aragami with his God Arc, his communicator buzzed and showed a picture of Brendan, a smile on his face.

"Mission accomplished?" Kama asked, a grin spreading on his face as well.

"Kongou down. We found it in the alleyways, Sera threw a flash bomb at its face, and a quick decapitation from me. No injuries, no problems." Brendan reported.

"Awesome. Return to the building we landed in, me and Gina will head there now." Kama clicked off his device and turned to Gina.

"Ready to go?" He asked, and she nodded. They both headed back to the drop-off point, in higher-than-usual spirits.

_A nice, easy mission with no complications. Just the way I like it,_ Kama thought, the grin still on his face.

* * *

When the group got back, they ran into a very unhappy group of Gods Eaters. Arashi, Sakuya, Soma, and Kota all looked like the world had just ended. "What happened this time. . ." Kama muttered, not looking forward to whatever news they had.

"The rescue missions were called off. Lindow and Kinaia are now dead to the Den." Arashi almost yelled. Kama sighed to himself, and said "Well, I don't care about what the higher ups say. I'll still keep an eye out for them on my missions."

Sakuya left the lobby at that point, heading to the elevator. You could almost see the storm cloud hanging over her head.

Kama sighed again, knowing nothing he said would make the situation any better, and left to go check on Alisa again. _They'll calm down eventually, I hope…_

* * *

When he got there, she was sleeping like before, but looked far more peaceful. He didn't see Oguruma anywhere, so he just took a seat next to Alisa like before.

Since the doctor wasn't around, he wanted to try and see what the odd feeling yesterday was about. It seemed to happen when he made contact with her.

He reached out and tentatively touched Alisa's hand, and the feeling happened again. _Far stronger this time,_ he thought as his mind was pulled like a vacuum.

* * *

He was looking from outside a boxed in area, the doors slightly ajar. He couldn't move an inch, and he got worried until voices he didn't recognize said "Ready or not. . . here we come!" in a singsong tone.

It sounded like a man and a woman, and the voice that seemed to come from him was a childish feminine voice, "Wait, not yet!" He was confused, why was he in a box, and why was his voice suddenly high pitched?

"Ready or not. . . here we come!" the other voices repeated, and he repeated "Wait, not yet!" He suddenly remembered that he was playing a game of hide and seek with his parents, and-

Wait, what? His parents died when his old Fenrir branch was attacked. How could they be playing hide and seek with him now?

"Here we come . . .ready or not!" they repeated again, sounding closer, and Kama scooted back into the box -_dresser_, his mind absently told him- and said "Okay, ready!", excited but not excited, having two different feelings in his head.

He didn't know what he was doing, but at the same time he knows exactly what he's doing. It was like he was in the co-pilot's seat, someone else driving the body.

He saw his -the other person's- parents come into view, and smiled wide, hiding further into the dresser, not wanting to be seen.

His parents saw him, smiled, then started walking toward the dresser. Kama was excited, but at the back of his mind, alarms started going off. He wanted to yell "No, go back, it's dangerous!" but his mouth refused to obey his brain's orders.

Moments later, he saw what made his mind go alert: An Aragami, one he'd never seen before, leaped onto his parents and killed them both.

It was a black-skinned creature resembling a Vajra, only with a face similar to an old man's.

As it bent down to eat his parents, he murmured "Daddy. . . Mommy. . . Don't eat them! Stop it!" he yelled, as the Aragami looked directly at him. . .

The view faded and showed a different image, of which Kama wasn't seeing in first person. He saw Alisa in the Initiation room, walking to claim her God Arc.

She put her hand on the weapon, and Kama was about to tune it out until Schicksal continued talking over the room's speakers.

"So young. . . how you must've cursed yourself for being so utterly powerless!" he murmured as the top of the case slammed down, fusing her arm with the bracelet injecting the Bias Factor into her body.

He could feel her pain, the burning spreading along her arm, and listened as Schicksal yelled "If you can overcome this anguish, you'll gain the power to avenge your parents' deaths!"

Alisa screamed in pain, long and loud, as Schicksal shouted "That's right! Fight it! Rise above it!" Kama felt the terror, anger, and determination Alisa felt as if it were his own emotions.

The image faded again, replaced by Alisa in a hospital gown, Dr. Oguruma, and a large screen. From what Kama could see, it was showing different Aragami.

Oguruma said in a quiet voice "These are your enemies - the Aragami." Alisa slowly repeated "Ara. . .gami?", as if confused. Oguruma continued "Right. Scary-as-all-get-out Aragami! And last but not least, here is. . ."

He changed the view on the screen to show several pictures of Lindow's face, and continued ". . .the Aragami that devoured your mommy and daddy!" Kama felt his blood go cold. _That son of a-_

He listened closely when the conversation continued. "Daddy. . . mommy. . ." Alisa slowly murmured, as if in a trance.

"But. . . you're strong enough to fight now, aren't you?" Oguruma continued. "It couldn't be easier. All you have to do is aim at it and pull the trigger."

"Pull the. . .trigger. . ." Alisa said in her trance. Oguruma told her "Right. And this is what you should say as you pull that trigger. Ajin Duva Touri!"

"Ajin. . .Duva. . .Touri. . ." Alisa chanted. Kama wanted to scream, and at the same time he was relieved. It truly wasn't her fault for killing Lindow and Kinaia.

"That's right. . . that's the chant that will turn you into a strong little girl!" Oguruma praised.

Once more, the image darkened, everything blurring and being replaced by a different image. One that was **very** recognizable to him.

* * *

The image began with the view facing the ceiling of an ordinary bedroom, and quickly panned down to a doorway when an alarm sounded, loud and threatening.

There were people running down the hallway outside his door, and one stopped in his doorway to say "Off your ass, Kama, the Outer Ghetto's been invaded by a ton of Aragami!"

His voice, slightly higher than he remembered, said "I'm on my way!" as he reached into his closet to grab his jacket. It had protected him more than once, and he never left without it.

He ran down to the God Arc storage area, taking the stairs two at a time, only to discover his god arc was being repaired and couldn't be used. Kama yelled "Why is mine the only one being repaired?!"

The storage keeper, an old man named Serano, yelled back "Because you dropped it into the sewage water on the last mission you did! Go help with evacuation, you can't fight now!"

He ran quickly upstairs and to the front doors, about to reach out to open them, when the doors flew inward, propelled by an explosion. Kama was knocked to the side, and fell unconscious.

The last thing he should've seen was the silhouette of a large Aragami walking on tank treads instead of legs, large missiles sticking out of its chest.

However, the image, so vivid and clear before, slightly blurred and allowed him to see outside his body in slides of pictures.

God Eaters being struck down and killed, Serano being impaled, the Outer Ghetto in flames.

His mind must've been in a cruel mood, because it showed a house in specific, ablaze with dead bodies outside, half eaten.

His home, his parents, and his best friend.

Ketsueki, his best friend, must've rushed directly to his house to defend his parents. He lost his in an earlier raid, so Kama's family was his family.

They were all mutilated, a ring of dead Aragami surrounding the trio of corpses.

Kama didn't want to relive these moments, didn't want to witness his comrades and superiors dying, not being able to do anything to help, but his view refused to turn off. He was forced to watch dozens of failed battles; several dozen Gods Eaters killed, most of which he was friends with; hundreds of civilians murdered and eaten.

Finally, mercifully, the view blurred and darkened, cutting off the carnage.

* * *

His sight returned to show him Alisa waking up, his hand still on hers.

"What was that, just now? I felt your emotions flowing into my mind. . ." Alisa said, uncertain. Kama was struck speechless, his mind recoiling from the images.

"Could it be. . . that it happened to you, too?" She asked, and Kama nodded.

She muttered "I thought I had forgotten about that day. . . until right now. . ."

Kama listened as she told him about that day. She had been playing hide and seek with her parents, and hid in a nearby warehouse. She hadn't realized there were Aragami nearby, and paid dearly for the mistake.

"If only I'd realized. . . ran out of there sooner. . . neither of them would've. . . It's all my fault!" Alisa muttered depressingly.

Kama put his hand on her shoulder and told her quietly "Life is full of choices. The choices we make can affect others, and all we can do is hope the choice we make is the best one possible. We all make mistakes, some bigger than others."

They were silent for a moment, reliving their personal tortures, until Kama told her "Get some rest, and get better as soon as you can. The only way to make up for past mistakes is by working to fix what you created."

She nodded slowly, and curled up in her bed, asleep in minutes.

Kama left, leaning against the door as soon as it closed. He slid to the ground, where he covered his head with both arms.

Had someone been looking at his face, they would've seen the tears of self-pity. _Mom, dad, Ket. . . I'm so sorry. . ._

* * *

A/N: The whole reason this chapter took so friggin long was because I tend to either go too lightly or too heavily with angst. Forgive this craptacular chapter, and look forward to the next ._.

Cheers~


	12. Assistance

Alrighty, here's where things get far different from the storyline. The general events will be the same, but I'm changing missions to make room for my own storyline. If you aren't knowledgeable of the game Monster Hunter, then I heavily suggest looking into it. Very good game~

* * *

Kama was feeling marginally better after a night's sleep, and it seemed like Arashi was in a better mood as well. As they met in the elevator, both looking ragged, Arashi said a single word.

"Breakfast?" Kama grinned slightly, and they both headed down to the cafeteria.

They both sat in the mostly empty room, eating some cereal, when Arashi cleared his throat to speak. "I'm sorry about the other day. It brought back bad memories, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Kama shook his head and told him "No worries, you weren't the only one bothered by the decision. Meanwhile, I've been in the mood to let off some steam. Wanna go on a mission?" Arashi's face lit up with a wide smile.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!"

They finished their breakfast in record time, and then hurried to Hibari to find a good, hard mission. They eventually found one for an area in the mountains, by the temples.

There was a report on tons of snow near the peak, where the Aragami was sighted, so they brought snow boots, thermal pants - red for Kama, black for Arashi - and different jackets for each.

Before they headed down to the area, they were interrupted by someone calling Kama's name. They both turned to see Alisa running toward them, out of breath. Arashi lost some of his enthusiasm, but Kama was glad to see her up and moving so soon.

She panted out "I want to go with you two. Please, you're the only one I can ask until I prove myself to be trustworthy again." Arashi looked pretty suspicious, but Kama said "Are you sure your wounds have healed enough?" She nodded vigorously, and Kama gave her a once over.

She looked tired after that short dash, but her wounds did in fact look healed. She was missing her hat, her hair falling in haphazard waves across her shoulders. She had a nervous look in her eyes, but at the same time looked determined.

He nodded, and said "We'll sign you up. Just don't get yourself too deep into the fight. Take it slow, so you don't overwhelm yourself again." She thanked him, and then ran to Hibari to join the mission.

Arashi turned to him and quietly whispered "What the hell, man?! Do you want to run the risk of us ending up like Lindow and Kinaia?" Kama quietly responded "She's had her fair share of troubles, same as both of us. She deserves another chance, as long as she believes she can make up for her mistakes."

Arashi scoffed, but didn't argue anymore as Alisa hurried back. Kama told her "We're going to be going to the mountains. Grab some warm gear, and then meet us in the storage bay."

Ten minutes later, all three God Eaters met up, weapons in hand. Alisa now had a red beanie similar to Kota's hat – "It was a present, and it's warm!" she had defended herself with a slight flush as Kama pointed it out with a smirk -, a red jacket that looked extremely thick, but allowed her maximum mobility, and dark red sweatpants.

As Kama examined his new weapons, he took notice of the other two members' weapons as well.

Kama had bought a long blade, hoping it would give a bit more bite, and now owned an upgraded Voltaic Chainsaw II. The large chainsaw-blade was charged with electricity, its teeth showing deadly promise.

His gun was upgraded with the last of his Chi-You pieces and some Tungsten that he received as a reward, giving him the Yang Rifle N. It almost glowed with power.

He invested in the Winterized Tower, Voltaic Tower, and Fireproof Tower shields, and took the Winterized with him on this mission. Lots of snow and high altitudes suggested an ice-based set of enemies, so having good defense against ice would be good.

Arashi took along his Wild Sword II, upgraded the week before. It looked much sharper than before, but also very light.

He had his new Ibaraki Bow N, also upgraded a week before. The silver weapon was prepped and loaded with custom blaze shots, and Kama couldn't wait to see them.

He also had his Polished Buckler II, upgraded about half a month ago. It was slightly more curved and broad, and had more resistance. _That should be enough of a bonus to make up for the small shield size,_ Kama thought.

Alisa had her same weapons as before, only repaired and insulated due to a helpful Licca. A red blade with teeth on the inside, a red chain gun, and the small red curved shield. Alisa looked serious, and Kama made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

The targets reported in the snowy mountains were three Aragami, though one was unknown.

Two Chi-You's and an odd creature had reportedly attacked a neighboring town and retreated into the cave systems in the mountain. The picture they were given of the unknown Aragami revealed a Vajra-like creature, but with key differences.

It crouched lower to the ground, had a far larger jaw, much larger claws. . . and it's skin and stance were similar to the tigers of pre-Aragami Terra. It looked ferocious, so they took caution as they travelled.

* * *

When they got to the designated mountain range, it was cold even at the base of the mountain. Kama clutched his jacket closer to him as they continued on, keeping a look out for the Aragami they had to kill.

The trio travelled upward along a cliff face, Arashi and Kama with blades out while Alisa had her gun ready. She hadn't been spooked when she was shown the picture, despite the similarities to the Vajra, and had warned Kama that she would be support for the next few missions.

"Don't worry; me and Arashi will be more than enough for anything that comes our way," Kama had said. _Alisa just needed to get back in the swing of things_, Kama thought. Plus, Arashi was looking rather angry, sharpening his blade against the rock wall as Kama sketched out a few plans. Kama didn't envy the enemy they were about to fight.

"Alright, depending on how this beast fights, we have a few backup plans if our main plan falls apart." Kama listed a few plans including hit-and-run, diversion, and ambushing. Arashi and Alisa nodded, and they travelled onward, through the cave systems.

They stopped immediately as Alisa looked around the massive cavern, completely awestruck. "Woah, this is amazing!" she said, and even Arashi took notice of his surroundings.

There was a large hole in the middle of the area, leading down an indefinite distance. Kama had kicked a rock into it, and waited a minute without hearing the echo of the rock hitting the ground. He shivered, and then stayed far away from the hole.

There was a large path spiraling up and branching off into different caves, easily wide enough for all three people to walk side by side. A loud roar from outside, echoing inside the cave, made the group stop gawking and pay attention to the mission at hand.

That roar was far too deep and guttural to belong to a Chi-You.

They traveled into one of the side caves, heading upward. There were a few Frost Ogretails in the way, but they were quickly dealt with. The path sloped sharply upward, ending at the cave exit. They rushed to the top and stopped to look around as they got there.

The cave had ended at the top of the mountain, and they could see the Den if they looked far enough off the cliff side. It was frigidly cold, and Kama told the group "Keep moving, don't stand still for too long." Arashi rolled his eyes and retorted "Come on, Kama, we aren't that stupid to let ourselves freeze."

Another roar, loud and nearby, stopped the bickering. They walked slowly around the mountain top, watching for the beast. In the next area, separated by a slight V-shaped canyon, they saw the first Chi-You.

Rather, the mutilated corpse of the first Chi-You.

Kama walked up to it, watching for an ambush, and examined the body. One of its arms and most of its torso was shredded, chunks missing. Its throat was completely ripped apart, and its body was covered with large gouges in the armored wings.

Kama felt intense fear blossom inside his chest, but forced it back down, keeping a calm appearance for the sake of his team. Arashi might not have needed it, but Alisa was just out of the hospital for a mental breakdown.

One last throaty roar, as well as the trademark screech from a wounded Chi-You came from their right side, off on the cliff side. Another wall blocked their sight, but they could clearly hear the sounds of loud crunching and snapping.

The group headed cautiously to the sound, skirting the rock wall and keeping as far as possible from the long drop on their left, and spotted the remaining targets. The last Chi-You was on the ground, dead. The unknown Aragami was there, as well, eating the Chi-You. Kama took in all the details he could while staying out of sight, pressed against the rock wall.

The beast had an orange and black striped pelt, similar to a tiger from pre-Aragami Terra. It had large legs, the forearms with folded-in wings, though it was on all four paws like a Vajra. It had a long tail with a spike at the end, which was stained with the blood of the Chi-You.

It reached down to take another bite of its prize, revealing several rows of sharp, serrated teeth. Its eyes were distinctly feline, as was its posture. It even made a deep, throaty sound similar to a purr as it ate. The claws on each of its paws were stained and chipped, suggesting a hard fight. Its pelt and face, however, had minimal damage compared to the two Chi-You's it must have killed.

Alisa took a sudden, terrified step backward and stepped on a piece of thin ice in the middle of the packed snow. The loud '_Crrk!_' it made was uncomfortably loud, and it alerted the Aragami to their presence. It jerked its head up, gore dropping from its jaws, and spotted the Gods Eaters.

It growled, the threat clear in its tone, and propped itself up on its front paws. Taking a deep breath, it let loose an ear-piercing roar that forced the trio to cover their ears in pain. Kama recovered first and, switching his God Arc to gun form, shot a non-elemental pierce shot into its face. It flinched back, and faced the group again, rage in its eyes.

The shot hadn't even scratched its face. _There must be an armor plate protecting the skull,_ Kama inwardly swore as he strafed it, shooting bullets into its face and front legs. It roared again, and charged straight at Kama like a freight train.

He dodged to the side, and then engaged his sword quickly as it skidded and changed its direction to continue in Kama's direction. He activated his shield just as the Aragami's armored skull thrust forward, and was pushed back several feet as the beast's head slammed into the shield, bowling him onto his back from the force.

It was about to plant its paw on Kama's chest, but Arashi slashed its tail, leaving a sizeable gash at the base. It screeched in pain, and then twisted in place, slamming its tail into Arashi's hastily-deployed shield. Kama got back up, finding it hard to breathe until Alisa shot a healing injection into him.

He nodded his thanks, and then readied his blade to give Arashi some help. Arashi had his hands full with evading and blocking, despite holding up well against the beast's onslaught. Kama mentally labeled it Tiger, just to give a name to this creature.

"Alisa, heal Arashi! Arashi, back up and let me take over! We'll take turns and dodge constantly!" Kama ordered, trying to think of a way to finish the Tiger off quickly. It liked to charge a lot, but it wasn't the only thing it did. Kama had to back up quickly as the Tiger lunged forward, snapping its jaws in the air and moving forward like a swimming fish.

He landed a hit on its face again, the teeth of his chainsaw trying to cut into its skin but skidding on the tough armor instead. Kama kept it up, but was forced to back off again as the Tiger swept the ground with its tail again. He gritted his teeth, pulled out a flash grenade, and yelled "Fire in the hole!" before tossing it in the Tiger's face, covering his ears and turning away from the flash.

The Tiger screamed again, blinded and deafened by the bomb. It was only temporary, and Kama made good use of the time to hack and slash at its face, finally cutting through the faceplate. Arashi went after the Tiger's tail, slashing a few times before it was severed with a splash of blood.

The Tiger shook its head violently before thrusting his body into the air, trying to fly to a different part of the mountain. "After it! We can't let it escape!" Kama yelled, and they sprinted to the area behind them, where it had landed and was eating the first dead Chi-You, trying to regain some strength.

Arashi had let loose a torrent of Blaze rapid fire shots, custom made to make each shot act as a multiple-stage cluster shot. Each bullet split into three shots, which split into two more, which split into another five mini shots. He was blasting the Tiger with probably hundreds of weak pellet shots, but it was doing damage.

The Tiger started roaring loudly, its body starting to glow with bright red veins. It propped itself up once more and let loose a screech so powerful, Kama felt the shockwave from right next to it. He was pushed back and rolled along the snow in pain, trying to get his ears to work again.

_Oh shit, I can't hear, I can't move, it's gonna eat me, ohshitohshitoh-_ Kama's mind was almost completely panicking, watching the Tiger charge with abnormal speed toward Kama, its jaws open to eat him whole. He was still rolling in the snow, thrashing in pain. He clasped his ears and felt blood dripping from them.

Screw being calm, he was terrified and he didn't care if the others knew!

* * *

Arashi let loose a yell of his own, full of fury and rage, and charged in with his God Arc in devour mode. He bit into one of the beast's front legs, making it stumble and roll to a stop inches from Kama. Kama's ears were bleeding, Arashi could see that from here, and didn't bother trying to talk to him.

He was getting up, determination and extreme pain visible on his face, but still fighting regardless. Alisa continued to shoot healing bullets at him and Kama, and Arashi was grateful that she hadn't lost her mind again, especially now.

Arashi felt the invigorating effects of the God Arc transferring power to him from the devour, and shot the Burst to Kama. Alisa got the same idea and, while the beast was on the ground, ran in to devour a piece of its chest. She shot the Burst into Arashi, and he felt his muscles relaxing and his wounds numbing.

With a loud roar, he charged in to attack the beast again, determined to keep the others alive.

* * *

Kama felt infinitely better after Arashi shot a Burst into him, and noticed that he could hear the fight. It sounded like it was filtered through a fog, however, and made a mental note to get it checked out after they killed the Tiger.

Kama charged in again, sword in hand, but was violently knocked back as the Tiger shoved its forearm into the ground and pushed, throwing boulders of dirt, rock, and snow at him. He was hit, and fell down in a heap, his whole body hurting.

He saw the Tiger backhand Arashi into a wall, then charge with that insane speed again. He started charging toward Kama again, but skidded at the last second to change direction.

His new target was Alisa, and neither of the boys could do anything but watch in horror.

* * *

Darkness . . . everywhere the host looked, darkness. It knew it was in danger, knew it was in pain.

It knew it wasn't always a creature.

The creature sensed a familiar presence nearby, on top of a large mountain. As it stood in the ruins of the nearby town, it had taken several minutes to dash to the mountain, eager to locate this presence.

As it climbed the mountain, it saw its arms and legs. Longer, leaner, dark purple skin beginning to grow black hair, hands slowly morphing into claws. Its right arm was already clawed, five long weapons to use.

Its legs were also morphing, but far slower. They still resembled what the creature once was, though they were almost completely dark purple as well. Its feet were still vaguely human, though it was only a matter of time.

In the beasts mind, there were three things fighting for dominance. It reflected upon these things as it reached the top of the mountain, finding three injured humans and an enraged Tigrex, one of the newer, violent Aragami.

_First, food. Food is always first._ It reached forward, shoulder out, and slammed the Tigrex on the floor, picked it up, and threw it against the wall, pinning it against the cliff face.

_Second, fighting. Fighting is fun. Fighting is life._ It reached up with its other arm, the one with claws, and tore the Tigrex's face and neck open, feeling the life drain from it, basking in the feeling of power, taking the first bite of the fresh carcass. _It's been a long time since i've had Tigrex meat,_ it thought.

It glanced at the humans against the wall and on the floor, sensing that they wouldn't be able to fight back. It growled, low, threateningly. Its mind suddenly spasmed, the host still retaining sanity and fighting back against the creature's influence.

It felt searing pain, so intense that it was blinded for a moment. It pushed back, reigning in the host's consciousness, and decided to leave the wounded humans alone, let them limp back to their home.

_Third, the host. Always fighting back, always trying to surface again._ The creature's host, a human once upon a time, was constantly fighting the control the creature had over it's body. The creature always won control back, but the host was viciously defiant.

The host retreated, its consciousness fading but not disappearing, hiding in the literal shadows of the creature's mind, metaphorically shackled by the creature's will._ The host cannot defy it's destiny forever, but it tries anyway. How amusing._

It had already tasted human flesh today, and it was satisfied for now. That town was a nice find, and made for several tasty treats.

* * *

Kama couldn't believe his eyes. Out of nowhere, a large misshapen . . . thing leaped from the cliff wall on the other side of the area, from the straight drop to the ground. It was deformed, obviously undergoing Aragami transformation.

He could tell it was a human once, because the legs still maintained their general shape.

Its arms, however, were slightly shorter than the Tigers arms. The skin was almost black, with what looked like black hair in patches all over both arms. One arm was vaguely human-shaped; the other was almost an exact match to the Tiger's arms; claws for fingers, thick muscle.

It had a lump of flesh hanging down the base of its back, about a foot and a half long, with a small spike on it. Judging from the Tiger's body frame, he guessed it was the beginning of a tail.

Its chest was thick, similar to the Tiger's chest, but leaner and slightly longer. It was covered in thick fur, like a pelt.

Its head had almost completely transformed, resembling a panther from pre-Aragami Terra. Black fur all over, except for the area where a human's hair would be; feline nose, eyes, and ears; large jaw; sharp teeth.

There were things that looked odd, though - out of place. The area where hair should be on a human was almost completely black, but about an inch of the hair ending was blue, like the sky. The right eye was red with a feline iris, but the left eye was emerald green with a human iris.

It let loose a screech similar to the Tiger, and leaped on it, pushing the Tiger against the ground, breaking its charge toward Alisa. The new creature threw the Tiger against the wall, pinned it there with the slightly human arm, and clawed its face and neck to shreds with the other arm.

It tore off a large chunk of flesh, ate it, and then seemed to notice the group, now slowly catching their breath and standing. It glared and growled, like the Tiger, as it took in the situation.

Arashi had three large claw marks, left to right, on his chest that bled badly. He still looked defiant, his sword in hand and ready to fight. His left shoulder looked odd, as if it was placed incorrectly, but he held the blade with both hands.

Alisa had been hit by several boulders that were flung from the Tiger's last-ditch attack, and was smacked to the wall by the new creature's tail as it leaped on the Tiger. She sat against the wall, nursing her leg. It was swollen with an angry red, but it didn't look broken.

Kama's ears had stopped bleeding, but everything was still fuzzy and muted. He was pretty sure he had broken a few ribs, and he felt like every muscle in his body was ripped to shreds. He still got up, wincing as the broken ribs scraped against something, and switched to gun mode, ready to go down swinging.

The creature sized the group up and gave a slight grin, teeth bloody from its recent kill. All of a sudden, its muscles tensed and it gripped its head tightly, screeching in pain. It slammed its head against the cliff wall, gripping tightly with both hands, until it let go of its head, its face going back to no expression.

It walked down the cave tunnel next to it, and disappeared into the darkness. Kama was left wondering whether he was still alive, or if he had fallen unconscious and imagined the new, tougher Aragami _deciding to let them live_.

He would count his blessings, though. Arashi, now drained of adrenaline, gave a small sigh and fell on his back, lying in the snow. He fell unconscious; his breathing was slow and his skin was pale. Kama walked over to Arashi, wincing at every step he made, and bandaged Arashi's chest as best as he could.

He turned to Alisa to find that she had already made a pseudo splint with some materials she found nearby, and wrapped it together with bandages. She used her gun as a cane and limped to Kama. "Are we . . . really still alive?"

Kama looked toward the cave mouth and muttered "I'm wondering the same thing." He took some health pills for himself, feeling the pain dull down as the medicine numbed his chest, and asked Alisa "We can't go back that way. Is the radio still working?"

She nodded, and minutes later an evac chopper was on its way. Nothing besides a couple Frost Ogretails appeared, and in twenty minutes they got on the helicopter, wounds bandaged and stabilized, and on their way back to the Den.

* * *

Kama leaned against the hull of the chopper, wrapped in a more professional bandaging by the paramedics. His torso was wrapped in bandages, and he was told not to move around a lot.

Alisa had her splint redone the right way, as she used jagged pieces of metal instead of wood. It had started to cut off circulation, and it was fixed without complications. She was sleeping on the seat next to Kama, head on his shoulder.

Arashi was in the worst shape. One of the claws had punctured a lung, and there was massive internal trauma. He had been lucky that the uppermost claw mark hadn't been slightly deeper and slightly higher, otherwise it would've clawed his heart.

He was sleeping on the other side of the bay, where a hammock had been set up to allow him to lay down. Or at least, Kama thought he was sleeping, because a minute into the flight Arashi had said "That could've gone better."

Kama couldn't help it; he laughed quietly, getting louder and louder until his laughter was overpowering the sound of the helicopter rotors. Somehow, Alisa slept through it, but Kama was just happy Arashi was feeling well enough to joke.

"Could've gone a whole lot worse, too. Count your blessings, because I'm certainly counting mine." He said, still laughing and crying from his broken ribs shifting and causing pain to flare all along his chest. Arashi laughed as well, and told him "You know, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I passed out when the Tiger threw me against the wall. What happened?"

Kama quieted down and said "There was another Aragami that showed up. It was half transformed, and it looked partly human still. It killed the Tiger and . . . I don't know, had a sudden migraine. It left us alone and went inside the cave."

Arashi's eyes widened in surprise, before asking "Why did it do that?"

"I'm not sure, but I think I have an idea." Kama replied, getting quiet and turning to face the helicopter bay door, watching the landscape fly by. He could certainly be wrong, but he thought he was right.

He'd seen many, many people in his life. More than usual, as he had been in several branches in his lifetime.

Only one person he knew had blue hair with green eyes.

He thought he was right, but at the same time he hoped he was wrong.

* * *

A/N: I know that was…a bit obvious, on more than one part. I do, however, like what I did here. It's my first time using such in-depth details about an entire area, so do tell me how I did, please.

A shout out to user **A Jack Frost Guy** for his amazing ideas and encouragement. I probably wouldn't have crossed my writer's block without some of the ideas you inadvertently gave me.

Kudos if you can guess all the references I made. Though, something tells me it won't be that hard xD

Cheers~


	13. Facing your Fears

Kama stood in the Directors office, reporting what he, Arashi, and Alisa had battled against. He stood silently after he was finished, feeling the pain medication wear off.

Schicksal made a contemplating sound from the back of his throat, and questioned "So, first things first. This "Tiger" you fought. It had a large jaw, moved like a cat, and had large claws?"

After Kama nodded, he placed his hands on his chin and rested his elbows on the desk in front of him, asking "And when you thoroughly enraged it, it's veins glowed a bright red and it moved with far faster speed?"

"Yes, sir. It was unbelievably fast, and every attack pushed us back, regardless of whether we used our shields or not. It's a lucky break that none of us were hurt worse."

_Though,_ he thought, grimacing slightly, _the injuries of the group were bad enough._

Arashi had sustained internal damage, his organs bruised and slightly bleeding. He was immediately taken into surgery and was given a half month of bed rest. He would need a week to recover, and another to repair his torn muscles.

Kama himself had several fractures in his arms and left leg, which he landed on when he was thrown against the wall. They were fixed from the enhanced healing of the Bias Factor, but it was also his lightest injury.

He had broken four ribs, one of which punctured his stomach. His eardrums were badly damaged, and his leg was damaged from circulation cutoff. He had come out of the fight in the worst condition, but he was the first one out of the hospital, despite current injuries and protests of the doctors.

Alisa, in contrast, was the least injured. Her leg was sprained, and would heal in less than a week. Her chest was badly bruised from being slammed into the wall, but she had no broken bones. She also kept her mentality in check, which Kama thought was a good sign.

Schicksal snapped him out of his thoughts when he told him "This Aragami, according to your report on how it fought and behaved, was reported several years ago. It was far less developed, but the attack patterns are the same. It was called Tigrex, so we shall use that name as well."

Kama nodded and listened as Schicksal told him "I hate cutting you off, but I have important business to attend to. In my absence, I will leave Sakaki to finish the debriefing. Get well soon, Kama. I meant what I said when I said I have high hopes for you." He walked out of the room, leaving Kama with Sakaki.

He pushed his glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose as he read the paperwork Kama brought with him. "So, let's talk about this new Aragami you had seen. It was obviously underdeveloped when you saw it, but you skimmed the details on a lot of it. Could you please elaborate?"

Kama took a deep breath and told him what he witnessed. "It leapt from the mountain side, as if it had climbed the mountain rather than taking a path upward. It leaped onto the Tigrex and threw it to the ground easily. It threw the Tigrex against the wall and killed it by ripping its head and throat open."

Sakaki queried "And it looked at you and left, just like that?" Kama hesitated, and then said "Well, it looked hostile at first. It spasmed, like it got a sudden migraine, and then left us alone after it recovered."

Sakaki made the same sound Schicksal had made earlier, and told Kama "Alright, now about this note you left at the end. 'Possible identity confirmed'. What does that mean?"

Kama was quiet as he reported, "I'm not positive, but I think it's Kinaia. It had the same hair and eyes as her, not to mention that would explain why it left us alone. Perhaps her sanity isn't fully lost yet."

Sakaki sighed, and said "Well, we'll have to postpone all missions in that area for now, until we can determine when the Aragami moves on. If it was that powerful with only a partially completed body, I shudder to imagine it's power as it continues to mature."

"In the mean time," he added, glancing at the bandages on Kama's chest, "get some rest. Between you and me, Schicksal is impressed with your performance so far. I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to show it soon, especially after you helped Alisa recover."

Kama replied "Okay. Should I go rest, or are there anymore checkups I need?" Sakaki shook his head, so Kama said goodbye as he left the room. He wandered to his room and was surprised to see two people waiting for him in front of his door.

* * *

Sakaki watched as Kama left the room, his footsteps echoing in the hallway as he entered the elevator, lost in his thoughts.

Kama should have been unable to walk, should have been in extreme pain for months. And yet, he was well enough to think coherently and rationally, as well as walk more than ten steps without collapsing. _The abilities and genetics of New-Types are truly astounding._

However, he had work to do as well, despite his personal opinion on it. He walked to his computer, opened a file with the initials S.S.I.P., and updated his data.

= -April 15, 20XX- Subject is progressing steadily, with minimal alterations in projected predictions. Battle reports show the subject is a capable fighter. More data required before final analysis is available. End Report =

Sakaki closed the file after saving, sent it to Fenrir HQ, and sighed heavily, feeling more and more drained as the project went on. He adjusted his glasses once more, then got back to the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

* * *

Kama exited the elevator to see two people by his door, talking to each other until they heard the elevator open. Kanon, who ran up to him, and Alisa, who waited by the door.

"Oh my god, are you alright? I'd heard your injuries were horrible, but you're walking right now! Do you need help? Are you in pain?" Kanon's frantic questions hurt Kama's newly repaired ears, so he put a hand on her mouth and said in a quiet voice "Sssh, I'm fine for now. My ears hurt, so please, keep the volume down."

Kanon narrowed her eyes in indignation as his hand fell, a slight flush on her neck, and quietly asked "Well, at least tell me you're going to get some rest. Feeling fine or not, you shouldn't be walking around with broken bones." He nodded, and Kanon gave him another stern look before walking back to her room.

Alisa had been quiet the whole time, waiting until Kanon's door closed before saying "I wanted to thank you, for a few things. Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes?" Kama shook his head, and they both entered his room. She sat on the couch in the corner of the room while Kama carefully lay down on his bed.

She started with "Again, I wanted to thank you for a few things. Trusting me enough to let me join a mission like that, as well as you and Arashi protecting me. I know I wasn't very helpful, but I won't be the helpless teammate anymore."

Kama tried to argue, saying she was helpful, but she cut him off saying "No, I was only shooting healing shots at you two. I should've been fighting, helping you against that Aragami. But I was scared, and I didn't. When you recover completely, I would like to go on more missions with you, so I can be a better teammate."

Kama was quiet, and carefully said "Well, you can always go to the training room, or go on missions with Sera while me and Arashi are down for the count. Looking up the Norn Database might help a little bit. It will be perhaps ten days before I'm back on missions, and I'll be resting for seven of those days."

Alisa told him "Then I'll help you recover faster, and I'll work on everything I can. Like you said, only hard work will allow me to atone for my mistakes." He laughed slightly, and Alisa said "What? Was it something I said?"

"No, nothing you said was funny. It's just your attitude. It reminds me of Kinaia a little bit. The refusal to let anything hold you down, the determination to get better, regardless of obstacles. Just remember, don't overdo it. I might have pulled you out of the darkness, but it wouldn't be wise to miss a step and fall back in."

She wistfully said "I wish I could've gotten to known Kinaia, she seemed like a strong person." They were silent for a few moments before Alisa said "Get some rest, and I'll bring you dinner later."

Kama laughed a little louder before saying "Thanks, but I'm probably going to be sleeping through the night regardless of hunger. Although, you making me dinner does sound pretty tempting."

She rolled her eyes, muttering "men . . ." to herself, then walked out, hearing Kama laughing as she left. Her eyes closed, remembering her panic during the mission, and when her eyes open, they blazed with determination.

* * *

A week passed, and Sera had been in a good mood recently. Missions were becoming easier, she was getting better at dodging, and her team was beginning to accept the deaths of their leader and Kinaia, even though they continued to look for them on every mission.

Kama was out of bed and walking around frequently, stretching his legs to bring his strength back up to par. Arashi was still in bed, but the last time she checked he was asleep. Alisa, surprisingly, had been taking on small missions alone, and was starting to regain the trust of her peers.

Sera, Kota, Sakuya and Soma had just gotten back from an easy mission. They were tasked with killing a Kongou and a Chi-You in the subways, and they had several lucky breaks.

The Kongou had tripped over a large chunk of rock while chasing Kota, and stumbled into the river of lava on the side. One Aragami down, they searched for the Chi You and caught it while it was sleeping. Fate must've been looking out for the group.

There was no sign of Lindow or Kinaia, however, so the mood was dampened. However, no one was hurt, so definite mission success.

Sakuya had taken over as unofficial co-leader of the team with Soma, but it wasn't very efficient. Orders clashed occasionally, and the confusion had caused more than a few injuries in past missions.

Sera sighed, stretching her back, and went to Arashi's room to see how he was recovering. She was surprised to see him awake and doing push-ups on his floor, a few bricks on his back. She asked "What are you doing?" knowing he still had a week of bed rest left.

He let the bricks fall off his back as he sat up, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Training. The Aragami won't wait for me to recover, and I don't need to be caught off guard. What are you up to?"

Sera frowned and said "Fine. We just finished a mission, and the Aragami must've been brain damaged or something. Don't change the subject, though. Are you sure you should be exercising so early after having your organs nearly pulped?"

Arashi huffed and told her "I've been through worse before. I can handle a little bit of pain; it'll make me stronger in the end. Anyways, I'm about to request to Sakaki that I be examined and see if I can go back on missions. My restlessness is killing me!" he added, stretching his arms behind his back as he stood up.

She scowled, eyes narrowed, and sharply told him "You going out on a mission before you're ready will be killing you, too!" Why was he determined to push his body to its limits every time? This wasn't the first time she had questioned Arashi's methods.

"Honestly, I'm fine. I'll even prove it, too. How about you join me in a mission, and I'll show you that I'm perfectly capable?" He asked, knowing she wouldn't leave him alone until she saw proof. Sera sighed and told him "Give me an hour to eat, I just got back from a mission. I'll hold you to it, though."

Arashi grinned and exclaimed "Great! I'll go pick one out. Any preferences?" as he got up, walking past her in the doorway. "Anywhere but the subways!" she called as he ran to the elevator, and got an arm wave as acknowledgement.

She shook her head, amazed at his stamina, and put it out of her mind as she walked to her room and grabbed some soup from her private stash.

* * *

As she walked down to the lobby, having taken a shower and eaten some food, she felt fresh and prepared for whatever Arashi had planned.

That is, until she saw Kama and Alisa added to the mission list as well. She growled to herself, wondering how she got stuck with the two stubborn men and the mental girl. She gave each of them the benefit of the doubt, however, upon seeing them grouped together.

She could almost believe everything was normal. As she walked down the stairs, she took in the scene at the table next to the front desk.

Kama had a map of whatever area the mission was assigned in, pointing at things on it she couldn't see. Arashi had his weapon at the table, and she could tell he was customizing bullets and fine-tuning his gun barrel; She had done it enough times to know the hand motions.

Alisa, however, was a different story. She leaned across the table, opposite of Kama, and aided in the planning. Her eyes had a look of focus, and there was no sign of the panic from over a month ago, nor her initial prideful, snobby behavior.

Arashi noticed Sera first, and waved her over to the table. "About time. We have some company, so register for the mission and we can get ready to head out." She walked back to Hibari and received the mission.

The mission was a type of rescue mission. The targets were two Quadriga which had invaded and partially destroyed an undefended town. The Defense squad was deployed as well, tasked with evacuating the surviving civilians; their team would be hunting the Quadriga and stalling for time, allowing the Defense squad to do their job properly.

Kama looked nervous, but his voice was strong as he told the group "Bring ice element weapons, watch out for the missiles, and attack the chest and belly whenever you can. Guard frequently, and watch your back even at a distance."

To her knowledge, he had never fought a Quadriga before, so knowing a rudimentary way of fighting two of them surprised her. She wanted to ask where his experience came from, but he had an odd glint in his eyes as he described the plan. She left it be, trusting that he knew what he was doing.

Kama had a new set of weapons, and Sera was curious of what they came from. His chainsaw, originally an Arctic Chainsaw, was now covered in tiger stripes and had a large plate of oracle cells resembling a skull over the top, curving over the top of the chainsaw slightly. His shield looked different as well, also tiger striped. It wasn't deployed, so she couldn't see what it looked like. He had his normal Yang Rifle N, though.

Arashi had also upgraded his weapons. His blade, which used to be a Chi-You wing, was now an odd trident-looking tiger-striped blade. The main blade was accompanied by two unnaturally large claws, attached to the top and the bottom. It looked like it was best used for side swipes. His gun module was also tiger striped, but she couldn't see it until he brought it out.

Alisa had new weaponry as well, to Sera's surprise. Her blade was still the usual red blade she carried, but her gun looked…frightening. She was fixing the aim of the gun mode, so Sera could observe the large cannon that had an Aragami head and neck as the shell.

The barrel was tiger-striped and lined with what looked like small curved claws, and the mouth of the cannon looked like a cat-like head. Large jaws, eyes turned into aiming sights, as Alisa tested it out and the eyes glowed with an infrared laser. Her shield module was tiger-striped too, but Sera couldn't observe it properly until it was out.

As for herself, she had been gathering pieces recently and upgrading all three of her equipments. She had a Railknife now, far along in the Knife line and capable of insane piercing. She also had a Railgun N, capable of far faster bullet firing and reloading. Her shield was the Oval Shield N, though she rarely used it in favor of using gun mode.

After the group got healing items and traps, they got on the helicopter to take them to the designated city. Even high in the air, they saw smoke in the distance, thick and smoky. Sera mentally prayed there would be people left to save.

Several Defense squads were already deployed and on the ground, and they immediately saw lots of damage to the surrounding buildings as they landed in the safe zone.

There was a small camp where Defense members were treating civilians and getting them back to the Den. A woman was loudly sobbing in front of a tent, gripping a bloody bundle as she rocked back and forth on the ground.

A loud explosion a few blocks away made Kama flinch, but he immediately made his back straight, his fists clenching slightly. He looked around, trying to look calm, but Sera could see he was breathing deeper than usual, his eyes wider than normal. His voice was calm, however, as he outlined the plan again.

The plan, in a nutshell, was for the team to split into two. Arashi and Alisa would travel to the southeastern quarter of the town, where the last explosion occurred. They would deal with the Quadriga in whatever way they saw fit, and do so with minimal injuries.

Sera and Kama would go to the northwestern quarter of the town, the quarter where first contact had been made, and the second Quadriga was wandering, searching for more humans. It was only a matter of time before the Quadrigas' assaulted the safe zone, so they had to either stall until everyone escaped, or kill both of them.

They split up, and Sera traveled with Kama over rubble and destroyed homes as they searched for their target. Kama looked like he was getting more and more riled up, his eyes narrowed, hyperventilating.

Sera put her hand on his shoulder, meaning to remind him that he wasn't alone, and he jerked his head up, looked at her calm expression, and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he had a measure of control again. He gave a small smile, and then continued onward.

Sera knew he was still injured and hoped this wouldn't be too hard. Her thoughts were cut short as the sounds of rumbling, heavy steps were getting louder. She stopped, crouching, and Kama did the same. They waited a few seconds, and the Quadriga rounded the corner of a destroyed building and came into view.

It resembled an enormous turtle, though far more destructive. It was easily twice as large as the helicopter they flew in. Its legs were tank treads, it had a satellite and several relays on its back, and its chest was open, a large missile already primed and partially sticking out of the opened section. Its stomach was largely unarmored, resembling uncovered muscles, and it was the weak point.

Something alerted the Aragami, because it turned sideways, away from the duo, and shot the primed missile into a building with a massive crater on the side of it. The missile shot forward and impacted against the building, sending fragments and debris everywhere.

The building, with its base now destroyed on one side, started falling toward the duo. Sera pulled Kama to his feet and they both ran into a nearby intact building. They managed to run up one floor of stairs before the building impacted the ground, the quaking ground rocking the building they were in. They stumbled, grabbing the side of the stairway to regain their balance.

The Quadriga roared in victory, sounding like a mechanized elephant. Sera wasn't focused on that, however. She was worried about Kama, who looked like he was about to have a mental breakdown.

* * *

Kama was beyond terrified. He gripped his head with his free arm and half ran, half stumbled further up the stairs with Sera. His emotions were playing havoc all over his mind, and he couldn't stop them.

He never wanted to fight this thing again, never wanted to see its destructive powers again. It was the only thing that reminded him of his past. The only connection he saw between the destruction of his old Den and reality.

His headache steadily growing worse, he had to stop on the third floor before he ended up tripping. He curled up against the wall, gripping his head, and Sera made use of the moment to stealthily look out the window. Sera whispered "It's almost directly below us, standing still. It might've heard something else."

As if to accent that, another set of explosions was heard. The building across from them was now pocketed with holes, fire blooming from the inside. Sera looked at it, and then looked back at him, frustration filling her face.

She crossed the room and pinned him to the wall, feet hanging off the ground. She said in a harsh whisper "Snap out of it! I need your help, and you're useless if you can't fight! You helped Alisa overcome her problems, so remember your own lessons. Fight the panic, fight the depression, keep your head, and help me live through this!" She shook him slightly, punctuating every demand she gave him.

Kama felt something click in his mind. He knew he was still scared out of his mind, but instead of remembering the destruction of his old home, he was forcing himself to think of the people here and now.

Civilians and Gods Eaters counting on his team to pull through. His Den, needing him in fighting shape. Alisa, who he helped out of the darkness. Sera, who was giving him a lifeline in his own darkness.

_I wanted to make a difference, wanted to protect everyone. I can't freeze up like this! Not here, not now, not on the battlefield! _ His eyes cleared, his mind sharp with anger. He really couldn't freeze up, because people would die, and it would be his fault.

* * *

Sera released him, and Kama slid to the ground next to the wall. He propped himself up and stood, gripping his weapon tightly. His voice was solid as he said "Let's head to the roof. I have an idea." She was glad he snapped out of whatever mindset he was thrown in, and they both quickly ran to the roof.

Once more, they heard an explosion very close to where they were. The roof under their feet rippled, and Sera gasped "He hit the base of our building!" If it took another hit, they would both fall with the building!

* * *

Kama crouched and crawled over to the edge of the roof, watching the Quadriga. It was directly below them now, devouring the base of the building they were on. He looked left and right, seeing his surroundings, and tried to think of a plan.

At their left was rubble, what once was a building. At their right was an intact building about ten feet away with its roof about two feet under them. Kama was trying to figure out if his plan would work when the building they were on started creaking. Slowly, as the seconds went by, the building started tipping into the street. The Quadriga must've eaten through the base of the building by now. No more time to plan, time to hope.

"Sera, jump onto the building on our right. Take a running start, and roll when you land!" Kama ordered. Sera asked "What about you?" as the building tipped a little more, the roof now at a 20 degree angle. It didn't have much longer until it toppled.

"Cover me when you reach the other building! GO!" he yelled as a loud, echoing crack sounded. The entire building below them shuddered and started tipping, faster and faster. Sera leapt onto the other roof, and Kama ran to the other side of the roof, now at a 45 degree angle and quickly rising.

He reached it and jumped onto the now-diagonal building side just as it collided with the cratered building across from them. Kama switched to gun form and shot at the Quadriga as he slid down the side of the building.

His shots did next to nothing from so far away, but it got the Quadriga's attention and kept it away from the building Sera landed on. She must've landed awkwardly, because she was gripping her leg painfully tight. Kama didn't know how bad it was, but he wanted her to live long enough to find out.

The Quadriga roared like an elephant again, and shot several cluster missiles at him as he slid down the building. Explosions popped loudly behind him, missing him by bare feet. He continued firing at it, slowly doing damage to it.

As he got close enough for the Quadriga to aim right at him, he planted his feet against the wall and jumped, switching to blade form while he was in midair. The Quadriga fired a missile at the building, and Kama knew he was going to be hit by the explosion.

He activated his shield and used his momentum to twist around, shield facing the building. The shockwave from the ensuing explosion slammed against his shield and sent him much farther and faster through the air.

He twisted again, shield facing the ground, and used the shield as a makeshift sled when he hit the ground, skidding on scrap metal and debris. He stopped and turned, weapon at the ready, as the Quadriga ran through the wreckage he just skid over. It roared again and opened up the top parts of its tread/legs, showing hidden machine guns aimed right at him.

He dashed forward, avoiding the regular bullets as they fired rapidly, tracking him as he dodged left and right. He switched to his gun in midstride and shot several bullets into each gun while strafing to the left. Both machinegun barrels were damaged beyond use, and the Aragami roared in pain.

Kama switched back to his blade and charged in, ready to deal revenge in spades. He jumped over a missile that was shot at his legs and slashed downward, slicing it's chest wide open and revealing the missile launcher. He had to quickly back up and dodge to the side when he saw a missile forming and launching right at his head.

He dashed forward again, slashing and hacking at its underside, until he was forced to back up again when smoke suddenly flared from the Quadriga's sides. He raised his free arm to cover his mouth, and was surprised when flames suddenly burst from the ground around the Aragami. He screamed as flames licked at his leg, and backed off, hiding behind a large piece of the building that had fallen earlier.

He ate a few of his pills, took another deep breath, and climbed over the rubble to come almost face to face with the Quadriga. It roared, the torso-looking lump of flesh reaching forward to bite him. He twisted in a circle, his chainsaw roaring into action, and was rewarded with a geyser of blood splashing onto his back.

He completed the circle and saw that he had cut the appendage off, as well as damage one of the relays on its back. He grinned, finally feeling like he could win, when it started heating up very rapidly. The satellite on its back was starting to spark, arcs of electricity running from the antenna to the dish, and Kama raised his shield, bracing himself.

* * *

Sera cursed her luck. _Of course I sprain my ankle as I land. Just my luck._

She was forced to watch as Kama slid down the collapsing building like a giant slide, firing at the Aragami when it got close to the building she was on. It had fired several small cluster missiles at Kama, and he was lucky that none had hit him.

However, he leaped at the Quadriga just as it fired a massive missile at the spot where he was a second ago. He somehow twisted upside down, shield facing the building while he moved away from it, and was propelled by the explosion.

She was crawling to the side of the building to set up a sniping post, and saw what looked like Kama sliding across the ground on top of his shield. She also saw the Quadriga break through a mountain of rubble caused by the tilted building, and they fought while she slowly - painfully - got her bullets prepared.

"Alright, you monster, let's see what I can do." she growled, aiming at the section of its body that looked like a head. It leaned in to bite Kama, but was completely cut off by a quick swing from Kama. She adjusted her aim to the satellite on its back, and fired a condensed pierce shot just as it started sparking.

She watched in horror as a large beam shot down from the sky, connected with the satellite, and reflected to aim straight at Kama. She closed her eyes, not willing to see Kama get killed, but opened them when an explosion louder than anything she had heard before happened.

She stared, seeing Kama with his shield up, facing a large, blackened stain on the ground, fried meat surrounding it.

* * *

He felt intense pain on his arms and chest, as if a group of people had fired Blaze radius shots into his body. Everything burned, but he heard a massive explosion as soon as the heat died down. He stood for a second, shield still up, and lowered it when he didn't hear anything.

He saw that the Quadriga had disappeared, a massive burn mark on the ground in its place. He sat down where he stood, propped up with his arms behind him. _Did it explode, or something?_ he wondered in a daze.

Someone yelling his name made him regain his focus, and he saw Alisa sprinting toward him, Arashi behind her, gun raised. They both looked scared, and he didn't know why until Alisa got to him and felt all over his body, saying "Why are you so burned? What happened?!"

He looked down and saw his jacket, blackened and crispy. His pants were blackened as well, smoke rising from the now-scorched armor plates. He looked back up at what used to be the Quadriga, then started to laugh.

Louder and louder, until even the people at the safe zone could hear faint guffaws. He felt a million times better, knowing he had survived against a Quadriga. _On that note_, Kama stopped abruptly, remembering, _Where's Sera? Is she alright?_

"Check that building, Sera should be on the rooftop!" He ordered, his voice a hoarse scratching sound. He must've been burned worse than he thought. He lay on the ground, Arashi for company. Alisa ran into the building and searched for Sera.

"So." Kama said after clearing his throat. "Hmm?" Arashi grunted. Kama gave a small, satisfied smile and said "Quadriga . . . is one of the Aragami I fear most. The day my old home was destroyed, the last and clearest thing I remember seeing was a Quadriga."

Arashi glanced at him, gave a bitter smile, and said "Well, let's hope we find Aragami X again, then. When we do, I'll have the chance to avenge my parents, best friends, and Lindow and Kinaia." Nothing else was said as they waited for the evac chopper to retrieve them, or the ride home. Nothing needed saying.

* * *

A/N: The end seemed rushed, somehow. Also, dunno if physics or chemistry quite work this way, but Sera interrupted the initial flow of the energy beam, so it overloaded and hit the Quadriga instead.

The weapons I gave Kama, Arashi, and Alisa are as follows:

Kama

Primeval Growl - A chainsaw made with Tigrex and Borg Camlann materials. Upgraded from Arctic Chainsaw, decent Freeze element attack. Long Blade type.

Primeval Wall - A shield made with Tigrex materials. I know I didn't show it, but it's a large shield in the shape of a Tigrex chest, tiger-striped fur on it and around it, with 3 claws branching out on each side of the shield. Decent Frost/Blaze defense. Tower Shield type.

Arashi

Primeval Claw - A modified halberd/trident made with Tigrex materials. Decent Freeze element attack. Long Blade type.

Primeval Screech - A gun made with Tigrex and Kongou materials. It's a triple-barreled gun with tiger-striped metal. If fired nonstop, is able to fire hundreds of rounds within a minute. high Freeze element attack, low Blaze/Spark/Divine element attack. Assault Gun type.

Alisa

(As I didn't show her this chapter, I'll be sure to show her new equips in action within the next couple chapters.)

Primeval Feast - A shield made with Tigrex and Vajra materials. It looks like a slightly enlarged Tigrex paw, claws folded outward over the shield. Vajra fur lines the outside of the shield itself. A small generator inside the shield itself absorbs pressure from objects hitting the shield, reducing kickback for the user. Buckler Shield type.

Primeval Roar - A cannon made with Tigrex and Kongou materials. A sound similar to an enraged Tigrex's roar is made after every shot, moderate recoil. Moderate Freeze/Blaze/Spark element attack. Blast Gun type.

If anyone has any questions, do tell me in the reviews. I'll be spending a week working over the next chapter, because I feel like it's going to be important.

Chapter word count (minus the authors note): 5,448

Cheers~


	14. Promotion

Two days later, the Den was in high spirits as the Defense squad returned, their mission successful. They had rescued over two hundred civilians and, after initial screening and Bias inoculation, discovered several dozen potential Gods Eaters. New recruits were being introduced into the Den, and there was talk of beginning a secondary base.

The Den was in full production mode; almost every Gods Eater was active, gathering supplies and building to expand the Outer Ghetto, as well as reinforce and expand the perimeter of the Anti-Aragami wall. However, there were a few not currently working.

They deserved a bit of a break before contributing to the activity, considering they had been responsible for protecting the rescued civilians. Kama was currently in his room, searching the Norn database for more details on the surrounding geography. Despite the initial damage, it was surprisingly superficial.

His clothes were nearly torched, the armor protecting his shoulders and legs completely blackened from the satellite beam. His skin, however, got away with a light sun burn that faded away with ointment and a night's sleep.

Sera, on the other hand, had a hairline fracture in her ankle. It would heal within a few days thanks to the New-Type genetics and Bias Factor's advanced healing, but her muscles would be sore for a week, possibly longer. She had cracked her leg on a pipe as she landed; she tumbled, the pain ruining her roll and damaging her leg.

_On the other hand,_ Kama mused internally, _I wouldn't have been able to survive against the Quadriga without her._ After Kama reported the end result of the battle, and after a moment Sakaki suggested Sera's last bullet interrupted the connection with the radiation beam, resulting in a misfire and hitting the Aragami with the brunt of the power.

He was watching some recordings on battle tactics until he was distracted by his door opening. He turned to see Sakuya walking into his room and paused the video, turning to greet her. She asked "How's the burn? Any stiffness?" He stretched his arms, legs, and back, then said "Nope, not a thing. Thanks for asking, though."

She nodded, and hesitated before asking "It's been a long while since you've joined Unit 1 on a mission. I don't suppose you'd want to come with us today?" He smiled and turned back to the computer for a few moments, saving his place and turning off the computer. He walked to put on his replacement jacket – a dark red coat with Aragami fur around the arms and seams for insulation – and said "Sure. What did you plan on hunting and where?"

Sakuya smiled as well and said "We were going to target a Camlann and a Sariel in the City of Mercy. It's been a long time since a Sariel was spotted, so we were going to eliminate it before it could cause a problem." Kama nodded, and walked with her to the lobby. The mission was difficult enough to warrant 2 additional members, so the group consisted of Kota, Soma, Sakuya, Alisa, Kama, and Gina.

Kota and Alisa were sitting at a table in the lobby, Soma was accessing the Norn database, and Gina was laughing with Brendan and Kanon downstairs at another table. Sakuya went to join Alisa and Kota as Kama signed up for the mission. Hibari told the group not to go out yet, saying Tsubaki wanted a word with the group.

Kama went over to join the trio upstairs, and they waited a couple minutes until they heard footsteps and saw Tsubaki, clipboard in hand, walking away from the elevator. Everyone at the table stood, and Gina and Soma joined the cluster as well.

Tsubaki said "As of 1200 hours today, Kama is hereby promoted to Unit Leader upon completion of this mission." A chorus of gasps, with Kama uttering "Uhh . . . what?" followed the statement. Kota slapped his back, saying "Congratulations! Unit Leader, eh? Isn't that, like, supplanting one's superior?" Alisa scathingly replied "I believe that's a form of betrayal, actually."

Tsubaki halted the celebrations as she continued "This promotion is only effective when the mission is completed with no casualties. Everyone comes back alive. Understand?" Another chorus of "Yes, ma'am" was said, and Tsubaki nodded, satisfied. "Carry on, then. Make us proud" she ordered.

The group set off, walking to the infamous City of Mercy. Many important things had happened here, and Kama felt a superstitious dread. Perhaps something else will happen today. Regardless, Kama wouldn't let anything bad happen to anyone in his group. He would die before he let someone else die.

* * *

An hour of leisurely walking later, they arrived at the City of Mercy. Kama had told them to not rush so they had as much energy as possible for the fight. It had been a long time since he was here, and things looked relatively the same. Tall buildings with large holes through them, overturned cars, and the cathedral in the town square that had made everyone's lives far more complicated.

Kama took deep breaths, keeping calm despite the thoughts raging in his head. He wanted to look inside the cathedral; wanted to see if he could find any leads to Kinaia or Lindow's whereabouts. He stifled that thought, only focusing on keeping his team safe. He led the group to a garage and paused, crouching to draw a plan in the dirt on the floor.

The general plan was for Kota, Sakuya, and Soma to hunt the Camlann, and Gina, Alisa, and him to hunt the Sariel. He was told the Sariel is infamous for using poison pollen and luring enemies away. He sketched out possible movements, and left Sakuya in charge of the second group. He nodded, and the team separated to hunt their respective enemies.

As Kama was leading his smaller team, he took notice of the two he chose. Alisa was walking behind him to the left while slightly crouched, her Primeval Roar aimed forward and covering her side as well. She was wearing the hat Kota gave her while she was hospitalized, the large red plaid hat hanging slightly to the side. Her skimpy tank top was replaced with a white button-up long sleeve shirt, and she wore a red jacket that only reached her stomach. Her skirt was replaced with red plaid pants, several pockets stitched in for extra supplies.

His gaze switched to Gina, who covered the right side and behind them as she walked beside Alisa. Her eye patch was gone, revealing what she actually hid. She wasn't blind in that eye, nor was the eye missing. Rather, she had a different colored eye; the cornea was dark red, rather than the brown that her left eye was. She wore a purple coat with two small bags strapped to her hips, for easier supply grabbing. Her pants were the same as his, but they were colored brown and the armor on her joints was graphite colored.

He focused back at the front, his Primeval Growl held in front of him as they searched. The Sariel was supposed to resemble a butterfly, so he was pretty sure he could locate it before it snuck up on them. He was proven wrong, however, as he felt plasma bolt graze his shoulder plate, leaving a small gouge in the metal.

They twisted around, Kama deploying his shield to deflect a second surprise shot, and got their first look at the Sariel. It was an unnatural neon blue, large frilly plumage surrounding it. It looked vaguely human-shaped, but it had plumage around its arms and a large, frilly head crest.

It flew in the air, almost out of reach of Kama's blade. It only had one eye, but as they observed it while dodging more shots, the eye was also the source of the plasma shots.

Kama ran toward it, jumping and making a downward slash to nick its leg before it got out of reach. However, it left several spores in its place, and Kama landed in the middle of them as they dispersed into a purple dust that left him coughing and slightly numb in his chest.

"Poison!" he coughed out, finding it hard to breathe until Gina shot his chest with a custom healing shot. It was mixed with an all-purpose antidote as well as a stimulant for energy regeneration. He thanked her, then got between her and another bullet with his shield deployed.

He heard it make a noise similar to a bird cooing, and it crossed its arms before spreading them wide and releasing several plasma shots, all directed at the ground. It raised up a cloud of dust, obscuring their vision and making them cough.

Kama saw purple pollen spores in the dust, and yelled "Out of the cloud! Poison is about to spread!" before they dispersed into poison dust. Kama was the first one out of the cloud, and was rewarded by being grabbed by the Sariel and lifted high into the air.

* * *

Alisa was blinded by the sudden dust cloud, stumbling to get out so she could target the Sariel. She saw Kama's back and followed right behind him, gasping when the Sariel picked him up by his arms and flying into the air with him.

She raised her gun and fired a cluster shot, unprepared for the shockwave that amplified the speed and sent her to the ground, landing on her bottom. She watched the shot explode with dismay, seeing it miss the Sariel completely.

She yelled to Gina "After it! Don't let it escape with Kama!" before running toward a tall building, hoping to get a vantage point on it. The Sariel was headed in that direction as well, so she sprinted as fast as she could to catch up to it. She glanced behind her and saw Gina running right behind her, and they entered, rushing to find the emergency stairway to the roof.

Alisa tripped over a large fragment of rock and skidded to a stop. Gina halted, glanced back at her, but Alisa waved her forward, yelling "I'll catch up!" Gina nodded and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Alisa stood up and limped as fast as she could up the stairs, cursing and mentally complaining about why she had such bad luck with chasing Aragami.

* * *

While Kama struggled, trying to get free before he got too high, he spotted the other team fighting the Camlann. Only, it looked different than normal. It looked red, and as it's tail slammed into the ground, magma erupted from the ground to attempt to drench Kota.

The last thing he saw of them was Soma jumping in front of Kota and shielding him from the magma. The Sariel had dragged him high into the air and threw him against a tall building. He braced himself and flew through the warped glass, crashing into the room. It looked like an office, and he glanced back outside to see the Sariel fling poison pollen into the room before flying up.

He dashed out of the office and located a stairwell leading to the roof. He dashed up the stairs, rushing to catch the Sariel, and got to the roof as the Aragami got there, flying over the lip of the roof. It flew toward him again, and he shielded as it rammed him, pushing him close to the edge of the building.

He yelled, trying to throw more power into his grip to shove the Sariel away with his shield, and succeeded somewhat. He angled the shield to a diagonal and shoved upward, making the Sariel slide across the shield and over him. It threw another plasma bolt at him before he could turn and guard, and felt it rip through his chest, piercing a hole in the roof under him.

He screamed, falling to his knees as the Sariel turned and began shooting at something at the ground, ignoring him. He fell onto the ground, losing strength and laying down, his sword wedged into the ground and sticking straight up like a mock version of Excalibur.

As the Sariel was ignoring him, he felt the wound and tried to think around the fog of pain. It didn't pierce any of his organs, but it ricocheted off of one of his ribs and snapped it in half. He would be fine if he could get to safety, but he was just too tired to move.

He saw the Sariel in his peripheral, firing plasma bolts at the stairwell. A second later, a bright flash and a loud bang caused it to screech and fall, writhing on the ground. A hand touched the hole in his back, and he felt a pinprick of pain in his spine. Energy started returning to his limbs, as well as the hole in his body numbing.

He looked up and saw Gina holding a syringe, and knew what happened. It was a medical cocktail infused with Oracle Cells used to resuscitate Gods Eaters who are badly injured - even nearly dead - give them a jumpstart of energy for several hours, and numbed the current inflicted areas long enough to finish a long-drawn mission and get medical help.

He got onto his knee, gripped his chainsaw, and ripped it out of the ceiling, leaving a large gash where it was removed. He twisted the blade so it faced behind him, like a ninja sword, and held his sword arm straight in front of him, blade still in reverse.

The Sariel shot plasma at him, but he engaged his shield to block them. It rushed Kama again, but he rolled to the side and, activating his God Arc, ran toward the Aragami that was trying to flee downward, back to the ground.

He ignored Gina's shout of warning and lunged off of the building, making the large mouth coming out of his blade bite into the Sariel's leg, preventing it from escaping and keeping Kama from falling. Kama was done trying to be careful.

The Sariel flew around in jagged lines, trying to forcefully throw Kama off of it, but Kama grabbed the plumage that substituted a skirt and held on. He released the God Arc and climbed onto the airborne Sariel's back.

With the blade still backwards, he stabbed into the left arm, then the right arm of the Aragami. It screeched in pain, and jerked around even more fiercely, its eye glowing a menacing yellow and letting loose poison pollen all around.

Kama grinned, teeth showing in a wide smile, and positioned the chainsaw directly over its spine.

"Say goodnight . . ."

* * *

Soma was getting pretty pissed at the Fallen Camlann they were fighting. He had heard the Sariel's bird-like call, and glanced over to the direction he heard it from to see it flying to one of the skyscrapers, Kama in its wing-like hands.

He heard Kota yell in fright, and turned to see the magmatic Camlann stab into the ground with its tail, an explosion causing magma to rise into the air and start to rain down, Kota in its path. He growled with anger and dashed in front of Kota, yelling "Stay down!" as he raised his shield to act as an umbrella.

None of the droplets hit them, but the Camlann slapped Soma away with the front of its shield hand, making Soma skid on the ground a distance away. He yelled to Sakuya "Throw another flash bomb!" She yelled back "No more, we used the last one!" while firing a healing shot into Soma, then continuing to chip away at the Aragami.

Soma berated himself for not checking the type of Camlann they would fight before assuming it was a regular one. Now, he had the wrong element blade and Kota had no shots that would be effective against it. Sakuya was quickly running out of healing shots, and Soma just used his last pill, forgetting to restock back at the Den.

"Of all the times to completely neglect my supplies," Soma grunted to himself. He checked the position of the team that was hunting the Sariel, and saw that Kama's icon was darkened, signaling that he was unable to fight at the moment. Alisa and Gina's heart rates were accelerated, and Kama's heart was far slower than normal.

"Agh!" Kota yelled as he was thrown backward, his gun now sporting a large gash in it from defending against a tail swipe. He slammed into Sakuya, who wasn't watching Kota at the time, and they both fell flat, sprawled against the floor. The Camlann charged toward them, tail held forward like a spear.

Soma ran perpendicular to it, using his shield to slam against the tail and divert it to the side. He neglected to take into account the rest of the Camlann's body, and was knocked down by the force of its charge. He screamed in pain as he was stepped on, one of his legs pierced by a razor-sharp leg.

His communicator buzzed, and Kama's voice, distorted by static, yelled "incoming!" Soma raised his blade to stab the Camlann and it backed up, a large gash on its two lower jaws. It screeched at him, and took a step . . .

Only to forcefully be knocked to the side by the Sariel, headless and falling from the air to collide with it. Kama was on the ground in a crouch a little ways away from it, his blade a bright purple from the Sariel's blood.

* * *

Kama stabbed downward into the Sariel, engaging the chainsaw and building his confidence with its powerful roar of blades and machinery. He sawed into it, lobbing off the head and digging into it to inflict as much damage as possible.

He knew there were Aragami that could survive a decapitation, so he kept sawing through it until the Sariel started falling like a rock through the air, angled diagonally. He looked toward the Camlann from earlier and saw Kota get slammed into Sakuya from a wide tail swing.

It held its tail in front of it like a jouster and dashed toward them, trying to impale them with its tail. Soma diverted the stab with his shield, but got trampled by it. Even up in the air, he could hear his scream. He growled in anger and steered the dropping Sariel, now not even twitching, toward the Camlann.

He used his communicator to connect to Soma and yelled "Incoming Sariel missile! Move!" into it, hoping Soma acted fast enough. He saw Soma look at his communicator, then used his sword to slash the Camlann's mouth. It jumped away, far enough to avoid a collision with his friends, and Kama grinned with anticipation.

He aimed his makeshift missile at the Camlann, then tensed his legs, preparing to jump. Within a second of collision, he leapt from the Sariel, rolling on the ground to absorb the fall. He stood on one leg, blade still held backwards, as he saw the Camlann throw off the Sariel. It's left side was crushed from the impact, but it still looked ready to fight.

Kama connected his communicator to Alisa and Gina in a joint connection and yelled "Quick, head to the plaza! Team 1 is down, and I have to keep them from getting hurt worse!" before disconnecting and throwing his last flash bomb, blinding the Camlann for a few seconds.

He ran to his downed teammates and, judging Sakuya to be the least hurt, gave her a Burst shot to revitalize her. "Drag the others into the back room, I'll hold its attention!" he ordered, and turned to the Camlann as its sight returned. It screeched at Kama, and shot miniature tail stingers at him.

He used his shield to deflect them all, then morphed to his gun mode to strafe to the left and shoot, drawing it away from Sakuya and the others. "C'mon, you big ugly crab! I'm in the mood for some seafood today!" He taunted, trying to make it angry, steering it toward the entrance of the church.

It worked; the Camlann almost roared at him as it charged at him, using its tail as a spear again. He jinked to the left, the tail skimming by him as he morphed to his sword and slashed its crushed back leg. The leg buckled, making the Camlann fall and writhe around, trying to get up.

Kama jumped onto the Camlann's back, using the broken leg as a stair step, and slashed the tail spike. It snapped at the base, causing the Camlann to work even harder at getting up. Kama, meanwhile, was positioning his blade at the base of the Camlann's back, directly in the middle of the patch of fur, and stabbed downward, the chainsaw skidding on the armored shell.

The Camlann flailed around, slamming into walls to try and get Kama off of his back, but Kama held steady, holding the chainsaw in place. The teeth were starting to grind through the armor, and Kama held on, determined to finish it now.

He heard a loud crack and saw the armor split open, the chainsaw ripping the tender skin under the shell into pieces. He yelled in triumph, a primal reaction of a dominant predator about to claim it's prize, and leaned into the hilt, driving the chainsaw even further.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the Camlann finally collapsed, its face ripped apart from the chainsaw piercing through it. Kama stayed in that position, chainsaw still embedded in the Aragami, breathing deeply. Adrenaline was flooding his system, and he took a deep breath, letting the tension out of his body.

He pushed the weapon back and forth, opening a gap wide enough to pull his blade out, and succeeded after a few tries. He half-climbed, half-stumbled off of the Aragami's back, his whole body shaking from the adrenaline draining, and he took out his canteen to take a drink and wash his face.

His hand was shaking so badly, he dropped the lid as he was opening it. He didn't care, letting the water splash on his face. When the shakes subsided, he grabbed his communicator, only to realize his team had been trying to contact him.

He raised Sakuya and gasped "Mission . . . complete. How are the . . . others?". He was out of energy suddenly, and when Sakuya told him "Everyone's fine." he said "Good. Pick me up . . . inside the church opening. I'm . . . gonna take a nap." before leaning against the wall inside the damaged hallway, closing his eyes and falling asleep instantly.

* * *

A/N: Wealp, there you have it. Kama is now the Unit Leader. I won't be able to post for about a week, though I might get the next chapter sooner than that. I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow, so I'll most likely be drugged up on medicine, and anything I write in that time would be an embarrassment to me, and a disappointment to you.

EDIT: Alright, feeling clear headed enough to write again. The experience was better in some areas and worse in others than what i expected. It's certainly an experience i would never want to repeat, mind you, but i discovered i have a high tolerance for pain medication.

There's one OC slot left, to anyone who wants to enter one. Make it somewhat realistic, and refer to the OC format on chapter 5. I'll accept the OC in either a review or a PM, and chances are it'll be first come, first served xD

Cheers~


	15. Responsibilities and Noobs

I just realized that I never actually specified Kama's age. For future reference, and to build on an idea that I've had for a pretty good amount of time, he is 18, bordering on 19.

* * *

On the way back to the Den, Soma observed his new Leader as he slept, leaning against the helicopter frame and lightly snoring. Everyone had been injured, but no one was severely injured besides Kama. His shirt was still stained with purple blood, though his face and arms had been wiped clean.

Soma glanced around the compartment, assessing his wounded comrades. His own injuries were minimal; minor cuts and bruises, a wrenched shoulder, and a massive laceration on his leg - from where the needle-sharp leg of the Fallen Borg Camlann had stepped on him - were the extent of his troubles.

Kota had spots of severe burns from where the magma had briefly touched him. They were treated, and he would only have slight scarring. His back had been bruised from his collision against Sakuya, and his God Arc would need a massive overhaul of repairs before it would be deemed safe to use, the firing mechanism and barrel opening gouged deeply when it blocked a swipe from the Camlann.

Sakuya had gotten by with bruised ribs - Kota wasn't light by any means, regardless of how little he ate - and torn muscles in her arms from over-exerting healing shots. Soma had questioned why her arms were bleeding, and she said she was sacrificing her own oracle cells to fuel the healing shots. Soma was still furious with her for putting her life in danger for their health.

Alisa had a sprained ankle and minor poison residue in her lungs; she had used her medical supplies to patch up the Camlann fighting force, then sat against the wall to rest until the helicopter arrived. According to Gina, Alisa had gotten several unlucky moments against the Sariel. He had waved it off, telling her to do better next time.

Gina was nursing a broken arm, the Sariel having grabbed her through one of the office windows and thrown her against the stairwell on the roof. She had thrown a flashbomb when she saw Kama on the floor, a large puddle of blood under him, and rushed over to give him a Revival Injection.

Finally, he turned back to glare at Kama's slumbering body. He had apparently gotten shot by a plasma bolt and broke a rib clean off, as well as nick an artery in his chest. Despite that, he had still risked everything and jumped off the ten-story building, narrowly grabbed the Sariel with his God Arc, killed it in midair and flew it into the Camlann, then proceeded to fight the Camlann alone . . .

Soma was wondering if his new 'leader' would end up killing himself sooner rather than later. It certainly wouldn't surprise him, if he kept risking his life so often. He growled to himself, deciding to talk to Kanon about it later. She seemed to know what made that boy tick far more than anyone on his team.

* * *

Kama awoke abruptly as Soma shook his shoulder, telling him "We're back. Get to Sakaki and get your gut checked out" in the gruff tone he usually had. Kama nodded, still half asleep, and hopped out of the helicopter as soon as everyone else was off. He wandered down to the medical room, surprised to see Schicksal in the room with Sakaki.

Schicksal said "Excellent, I'm pleased to see you home with no casualties, Unit Leader. If you could come to my office when you're done here, we could discuss more . . . official business." Kama nodded, and Schicksal exited the room.

Sakaki told him "Alright, lie down on the table, and we can see how badly you messed yourself up this time." Kama rolled his eyes, then did as he was told. Sakaki activated a portable X-ray and scanned the area.

"That's odd . . ." Sakaki murmured, scanning all around the area. Kama, growing nervous, asked "Is there a problem, doctor?" He was silent a few moments before saying "No, and that in itself is a problem. You're completely recovered, besides your rib. Even that is almost repaired already. Are you sure you cracked the rib in half?" he added, looking up at Kama.

Kama nodded, eyes wide in disbelief. Sakaki put his x-ray away and helped Kama off the table. "Well, you have no obvious injuries to speak of. Regardless, don't do any strenuous exercises for a few days, and take it easy on any missions you go on for the same amount of time."

* * *

"You're free to go. I'll email Schicksal the details, as I'm sure you're confused right now." he told Kama, who thanked him before leaving. Sakaki waited until Kama was gone before heading to his computer and opening a file titled T.P.S. and updating the files from earlier.

He sent Schicksal an email reporting the recovery anomaly, as well as adding **'His recovery rate far exceeds your experimental predictions. I would be wary, if I were you. He is far stronger than we anticipated; if the third piece is discovered, it could very well cause a disaster.**

* * *

Kama entered the Director's room and was directed to take a seat. As he sat down, Schicksal said "First, let me commend you on being appointed Leader!" He continued before Kama could say anything, "now then, I asked you to come for a specific reason. Your new authorities as leader, as well as your duties . . . I'd like to discuss those with you."

He took a subtle deep breath, and pushed onward. "First, your enhanced privileges . . . as Leader, you will be given your own private room. The room used by the previous Leader, Lindow, as a matter of fact." Kama's eyes widened in a moment of panic. Schicksal paused in his speech to ask "Is something troubling you?"

Kama asked "What will I do with Lindow's things? Leave them there, or move them somewhere?" He didn't add the fact that _he didn't feel comfortable living where his old Leader used to live before dying_, but it was implied in his tone.

Schicksal thought for a moment, and said "His belongings are registered under his rank. Seeing as how you now own his rank . . . his belongings are yours to deal with. Store them, keep them, whatever you want. Continuing on, though."

"You must now log onto the terminal and update your user authority level. I'll forward you the codes to input into the terminal when we're done here. With higher authority level comes more data you were previously unable to access."

Schicksal started to wrap his speech up with "We have decided to disclose and share this information with you . . . Please try to understand what this means. This is our . . . this is Fenrir's mark of trust. We hope you prove that our trust was well-placed."

Kama nodded, feeling the extra pressure building on him. He wanted to protect his teammates as a leader; now he would follow his new responsibilities as best as he could.

"Now . . . onto your duties as Leader," Schicksal told him, "In addition to your regular duties, you will be occasionally called by me or Sakaki to complete a special assignment. Usually, this consists of exploring a questionable area, killing a specific Aragami, or retrieving a certain core. These used to be Lindow's assignments as well, so don't be alarmed."

He stopped, leaning his head to the side as if having an internal debate. He finished the lecture by saying "I'll give you more detailed instructions later. I'm sure you're exhausted by today's events."

Kama said "Yes, sir. I'll be fully prepared for whatever assignment you give me, and I'll finish it to the best of my abilities." He walked out of the room, headed for the elevator, and decided to make one last pit stop before going to his room - his _old_ room, he reminded himself.

He went to a certain door in the Veteran's hallway, took a deep breath, and knocked a few times. A female voice said "Yes, who is it?" and Kama said "It's me, Kama. I have a bit of a favor to ask, Sakuya . . ."

* * *

After Kama was done talking, Sakuya opened her door and let Kama in. They sat on the couch, Sakuya with a beer can. Kama said "I thought you didn't drink rationed beer."

Sakuya just looked at the can, and said morosely "It's a habit I decided to pick up. It reminds me of good memories." Kama let it drop.

"So, you need my help moving Lindow's things into a less conspicuous area?" Sakuya questioned. Kama clarified by saying "I was actually wondering if you would like some of it. No doubt, a lot of his data and gear would help me in the long run, but I don't deserve his personal effects."

"You were very close to Lindow, so I thought I would ask before storing it somewhere." Kama added. She made a small, sad smile, and nodded, saying "Thank you, Kama. Are we going now?" When he nodded, she finished off her can and threw it away on their way out.

They entered Lindow's - Kama's - room, and Sakuya stopped at the doorway. Kama didn't look back, instead saying "I'll give you a few minutes. Join me when you're ready."

He logged onto the terminal and used the codes given by Schicksal to update his rank. As soon as the codes were input, he received several dozen new pieces of information in the sections of Norn that he frequently researched. His eyes widened in surprise, and he got a wide smile in anticipation.

He saw a file for a new recruit, and researched the data. She was a New-Type recruit, and her home town was - Kama did a double take - the town he had recently aided in evacuating from the Quadrigas.

Her name was Naoko Fukui, and she was 16 years old. She would be arriving the next day, so Kama made it a personal goal of his to take her out on her first mission and help her out, just like Soma and Tatsumi did for him.

He heard a shuffling behind him, and turned off the computer to help Sakuya. She was slightly teary eyed, but she continued on as she helped clear things out. They would be using Kama's old room, considering he hadn't used it since his first night here.

Before his lessons with Lindow, he had spent sleepovers with Kota (watching Bugarally), Kanon (. . . social sleepovers), and the hospital, from injuries.

After his lessons with Lindow started, he had been sleeping nights outside of the Den, against the wishes of Hibari. Kama had promised he wouldn't get hurt, so Hibari never told anyone.

Anyways, his old room was nearly empty and perfect for putting Lindow's old things in. It only took an hour and a half, and Kama thanked Sakuya when everything was out.

"Good night, Sakuya. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day with a new rookie, so get some sleep. Alright?" Sakuya nodded before heading off to her room.

Kama looked around his new room, grabbed an unsweetened tea from the mini fridge, then sat at his terminal, sipping at his drink.

Despite telling Sakuya to get to bed, Kama didn't have that luxury as unit leader. _The night is still young, and there is plenty more to get done._

* * *

Kama awoke to find his neck and back cramped, his legs stiff from being upright all night, and his forehead sore and the shape of an O imprinted on it. He fell asleep standing at the terminal, his forehead pressed against the armlet socket, and he had no idea when he fell asleep.

"Damn it all," he muttered aloud as he massaged his forehead, trying to rub the imprint out. It was then that he noticed the blanket across his shoulders, and saw that it was the same one that Kanon had on the foot of her bed as an extra.

He smiled to himself, making a mental note to show his appreciation later, and folded it up at the foot of his bed.

He stretched his arms wide, determined to wake up before heading outside, and slapped his cheeks. He grabbed a soda from his mini fridge and walked out, headed toward the elevator, going toward the lobby.

The new recruit was supposed to show up around noon, and - Kama checked his watch - it was about 11:30. _I could probably get some lunch before she arrives_, he thought, and changed his destination to the cafeteria.

* * *

He entered a few minutes later, got a quick meal, and located Sera and Arashi sitting together laughing at something they were talking about. He wandered over and asked "Mind if I sit?", to which both of them shook their heads.

As he sat down, Sera started right back up on what she was talking about earlier, "So, the new recruit. Turns out, she's a bit on the excited side. Tsubaki couldn't even get her to be quiet long enough to tell her where to go!" Kama chuckled along with them, and asked "So is she a troublemaker, or just excitable?"

Sera told him "Just excitable. Although," she added with a slightly lower smile, "When Tsubaki left, her smile almost made a complete flip. She looked a lot less giddy with no one else in the room. Maybe you could ask her about it one of these days, when she gets comfortable in the Den?" Kama nodded in agreement.

Arashi interrupted, saying "Oh yeah, we never really congratulated you, did we? Good job on making Unit Leader, Kama!" while patting Kama on the back rather roughly. He coughed, and cleared his throat before saying "Thanks for that. Are your wounds healed, Arashi? And how's your leg, Sera?"

They both reported that they were fully healed, and Kama said "I think we should all go on missions with the new girl, help her get situated. Give her support early on, considering where she came from before here."

At their questioning looks, Kama told them "Me and Sera had a mission in a besieged city about a week ago. Two Quadriga were destroying everything in sight. The city itself is destroyed now, but we saved several hundred civilians. She was one of them."

Sera put her hand to her mouth, quietly uttering "Oh no . . ." Arashi just narrowed his eyes and said "Well, at least she'll fit in well. Lost everything, willing to fight back. She'll fit with us perfectly."

* * *

All three of them continued eating until 12:00, when Kama said "Alright, time to go to the lobby and wait. Ready to go?" Sera and Arashi said "Yes" and "Yup" respectively, and they took care of their trays and headed up the elevator.

The elevator stopped at the medical room, opening to reveal Tsubaki and a girl they didn't know. She had brown eyes and her brown hair was in a ponytail. She wore black shorts that reached her knees, black boots that reached to her ankles, a thin white jacket that was unbuttoned, and a black shirt underneath it.

Tsubaki said "Excellent, just the people I was hoping to meet. Kama, I know you got the information, so I want you to introduce the new recruit to everyone." Kama nodded, and waved Naoko inside the elevator.

He said "Yes ma'am. Come on in, Naoko, I'll show you around the Den." as the new girl looked back and forth between Tsubaki and the group in the elevator, and thanked Tsubaki before joining the trio in the elevator. Everyone went against the walls, and it was a little more crowded than usual as the elevator traveled upwards to the lobby.

When they reached the lobby, Naoko was the first one out of the elevator, almost skipping to the large gate on the second floor. The rest of the Gods Eaters Kama usually went out with were either on the first or second floor, and he clapped his hands, saying "Gather around, everyone. Time to introduce a new recruit."

When everyone gathered around, he turned to the smiling girl beside him and said "This is Naoko Fukui. She is a New-Type God Eater, and she just received her God Arc. I want you all to get along, and help her whenever you can. Understood?"

A chorus of "Yes sir" echoed, and it made Kama feel slightly uncomfortable. He was only 18, and yet he was treated like everyone's superior. It felt good, but it also made him feel far older.

Naoko spoke up for herself, saying "I'm happy to be working with all of you, and I can't wait to get started!" She had a high-toned voice, and she seemed to burst with confidence and excitement.

Everyone scattered, continuing what they were doing before being called. Naoko looked around, probably deciding what to do next, and Kama told her "Sit at the couch over here. I have to take care of a few things, then I'll join you."

She nodded and walked over to the table on the second floor, sitting and kicking her legs back and forth. Kama walked downstairs to Hibari and asked "Any easy missions available right now?" She looked through and said "Nothing easy, but we have a mission with two Kongous needing to be eliminated."

Kama debated internally, and said "Where is it?" Hibari opened the file and told him "They're in the mountains, next to a few temples. Nothing like your earlier mission with the Tigrex, but there are a few cliffs to be wary of."

Kama thanked her and called over Sera and Arashi, saying "Grab your gear, we have a mission to take care of with the rookie." They nodded, signing themselves on the roster and heading to the God Arc storage bay.

Kama walked back up to Naoko and, feeling nostalgic, said "Alright. Officially, I'm your leader. Though," he added, leaning closer in mock secrecy, "Let's go ahead and ignore all that boring paperwork, eh?" Both of them smiled, and Kama continued.

"You can talk to anyone and everyone here, though there are a few who will be more willing to talk than others. Everyone has a past they would rather not talk about. I'm sure you understand, considering your own." He added, seeing her downcast expression.

"Today, me and two of the people I trust here are going to take you on a mission in the snowy region. You don't have to be in the combat at first, just watch, learn, and stay safe." he told her, pulling out the assignment and showing her the details. She looked at them carefully, then looked back at Kama when she was done.

"I only have two rules," he wrapped up, seeing Arashi and Sera returning with their weapons in his peripheral, "Don't die, and make sure your teammates don't die. Now, let's go to the God Arc storage and grab our weapons."

* * *

Kama was impressed. Naoko held her own very well, and Kama fought one of the Kongous with her while Sera and Arashi took care of the other. Naoko was extremely focused and deadly precise with her attacks.

The mission was complete, no one got seriously hurt. Arashi had a few bruises from getting too close and being pushed to the side, but nothing that would keep him from going out tomorrow.

Kama was intrigued by Naoko, watching her clean the basic Knife she owned. She only had basic equipments for now, but she used the Assault gun, Short blade, and Buckler shield. She fought similar to Kama, in that she would constantly switch between both sword and gun to get optimal performance.

She was quiet right now, finishing her cleaning and leaning against a nearby wall, arms folded. Her facial expression showed that she was angry, and Kama walked over to her to ask "What's the matter? Not tough enough for you?"

She shook her head and said in a low tone "I hate all Aragami. They only kill and destroy, so they need to be destroyed with the same ruthless efficiency. I just wish they would stop ruining other people's lives, like they did for everyone in my city."

She sighed, adding "Sometimes I wonder why we continue fighting, only to witness death after death." Kama was silent, choosing to walk over to her and lean on the wall she was against. He looked toward the sky, following the advice of his old leader Lindow and searching for a cloud, collecting his thoughts.

After a few seconds, he told her "I completely understand. I was in your city, fending off the Quadriga while you were being evacuated." She turned her head sharply to look at Kama, but he kept looking at the sky. "Sometimes, there's a time to accept it as life and move on. Aragami kill and destroy, that is true. People die, that is also true."

"However, we are here to stop them. God Eaters, I mean. We save whoever we can, as often as we can, and even when we fail we have to get up and continue the fight. If we all gave up, who would rise in our place?" He asked, finally turning to Naoko with a dark expression.

"I've lost friends. I've lost family. I've been exactly where you are right now. My entire Den was destroyed. Very few people were saved, and everyone I cared about was gone. I was unable to join the fighting because of a mistake I made before. That's why I worked on thinking before acting, so that I would always be able to fight against those that threaten my home."

"Arashi over there," he pointed to Arashi, currently talking with Sera, "lost his family when he was young, lost his only childhood friends less than a year ago to a surprise Aragami attack, and witnessed my best friend killed by the exact same Aragami that tore his life apart."

"He fights with every fiber of his being, every strand of his soul, to prevent the same tragedy from happening to another person. He says what's on his mind, because there might not be another chance to say it."

As Naoko stared at the ground, silent, Kama continued. "And Sera? She was the only survivor of a Vajra attack. She was saved by an adult in her orphanage, shoved into a closet before the Vajra saw her, and witnessed everyone including the adult die while she stayed hidden."

"She cursed herself for being powerless that day, training to be a medic ever since. She's got a big heart, enough to care for everyone here. She works herself to the bone preventing that day from being repeated."

Kama paused, watching Naoko's reaction. She looked even more furious, but she had a calm tone as she asked "Why tell me this? They don't know that I know." Kama wondered himself why he got caught up in the moment, and told her honestly, "I don't know. I feel like I can trust you. I think you could learn from knowing your team has been in your position."

"Don't forget that you aren't alone. I guarantee, if you open up with us, we'll understand. For now, though," he wrapped his speech up, motioning to Sera and Arashi to pack up, "think it over. No one's asking you to open up without getting to know us, but don't force yourself to go the distance alone."

Kama got up, helping Naoko up because she slid to the floor while listening to Kama. "C'mon, let's go back to the Den. I heard that Doctor Sakaki managed to synthesize some pudding the other day." He said with a grin, and Naoko grinned widely in response.

The group walked back, Arashi's voice loudly echoing off the mountain range "Pudding? Hell yeah, it's been years since I had some!"

* * *

A/N: There you have it, the new OC is Naoko Fukui, age 16. Thank you patty1234554321 and HandsOffMyJello for your submissions, there will be no more OC requests for the remainder of this story. Hands, your OC will come soon, so look forward to it!

This chapter was mainly filler, and next chapter will definitely have action in it. It's time to move my storyline forward and show some of the things I've been hinting to :J

Cheers~


	16. Special Assignment

This chapter, I'm going to try and implement a feature of a game I truly want to play, Monster Hunter Frontier. My beta, A Jack Frost Guy, has told me enough details to take a decent swing at it, so here you go!

Also, a big thank you to patty1234554321 and A Jack Frost Guy. Without your support and criticism, whether it's recent or old, I probably would've given this story up. To those who want to review but don't have accounts, it's really easy and simple to sign up, and you don't even need to write stories.

I listen to all of the critiques and compliments I receive, and it helps me write better in the long run as well as get motivated to post faster.

I've held you guys and gals up long enough, let's get this show on the road!

* * *

Another month had passed; Kama was spending his time training Naoko and going on missions with several different teams. Arashi and Sera, upon hearing that Kama told their histories to the noob, were understandably furious for a few days.

After Naoko talked to them, they quickly got over their anger, understanding why Kama had said what he did. A brief, awkward apology later, and the group was a solid team again.

* * *

The day started off like usual; Kama woke up, got dressed, and checked his computer. Only, there was a message on his terminal telling him to report to Director Schicksal. He read it, confused, then put on his jacket and headed out.

He headed to the elevator, pressing the button for the executive branch. When he got there, he entered Schicksal's room. Schicksal eyed Kama, saying "I never imagined you would develop such exceptional leadership qualities in so short a time . . . It must be a New-Type characteristic."

Kama felt a moment of pride, then listened as Schicksal continued. "You may already be aware of this . . . but the Aegis Project is about to enter its final stage."

"The Ark that will protect us from the Aragami threat, and guide humanity to a new future . . . It will soon be completed. Certainly a cause for celebration." He continued, then paused for a moment.

Schicksal said in a quieter voice "We are almost there . . . I'd like you to help me just a bit longer." He sounded as if he were thinking of something else as he spoke.

A device on his desk started buzzing, and he told Kama "Forgive me, I'm expecting someone soon. We'll continue this another day. Tell Arashi to see me in an hour, and send him my apologies."

"At any rate, I expect even loftier achievements from you and your unit. That's all, you're dismissed." Kama nodded, walking to the door.

Outside, he saw Sakaki walking toward Schicksal's room and nodded in greeting. As they walked by eachother, Sakaki suddenly asked "Are you the type of person who has a great deal of curiosity?" before smiling and walking onward, not giving Kama the chance to answer.

Kama scratched his head in confusion and glanced downward, wondering if something on his clothes inspired the odd question. He noticed a disk on the floor, and assumed Sakaki had dropped it. Coupled with the question, it seemed Sakaki wanted him to watch it.

_Why not just ask me to watch it?_ Kama thought to himself, and had another idea: _What if I'm not supposed to watch it?_ Kama narrowed his eyes, thinking. It would be just like Sakaki to make everything a word game, so perhaps it would benefit Kama to watch the disk.

He walked back to his room and turned his terminal on, popping the disk in and opening its contents. It was a video that looked like it was recorded with a basic camcorder, the quality bad and the audio fading in some parts.

* * *

The initial clip was a surgery room, a man and a woman standing over a dead Ogretail, dissecting it. A few seconds passed by with nothing happening, and a cloud of black liquid sprayed on the man's face, prompting a scream as he fell to the ground.

A gasp as someone said "No anesthesia?!", and the screen turned sideways as someone dropped the camera, running to the writhing man to try and help. The screen faded in static, to be replaced by another scene of three people at a desk.

At the desk was a woman he'd never seen before, dressed in a scientist robe. Her skin was tanned, she had long black hair, and she wore glasses. The other two people were younger versions of Director Schicksal and Doctor Sakaki. Kama continued watching, intrigued.

The woman opened up the conversation, saying "Just as we thought, embedding the Bias Factor into an adult organism would be difficult." Sakaki added on "Even then, it looks like it would be hard to induce apoptosis."

Kama paused the video to look up that word, and discovered it means 'a type of cell death in which the cell uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself.' Kama resumed the video with this knowledge, not liking the direction it looked like it was taking.

Sakaki continued on "Our best bet is to probably do it in the prenatal stage. We've had success with rats, at least." Sakaki took a drink from a nearby coffee cup as Schicksal spoke for the first time. "Either way, it's high time we conducted a clinical test on a human."

Sakaki sounded cautious and somewhat sarcastic as he told him "I'm not rejecting that kind of approach - taking something we don't understand in principle and using it blindly . . . but we're just starting to understand what makes the P73 Bias Factor tick. I'm not sure we're ready to do this yet."

It suddenly dawned on Kama that he was looking at a recording made several years ago. If they didn't understand how the Bias Factor worked in this video, then this was easily 15 years ago, if not longer.

Schicksal responded to Sakaki by asking him "How can we just sit back and wait, when nearly ten thousand people a day are being devoured by the Aragami?" Sakaki was calm as he asked "Are you saying you're going to test it on yourself, like Pettenkofer?"

Schicksal vehemently answered "Yes . . . If it proves feasible, then I'll test it on myself!", as he planted his hands on the table. A few seconds of silence passed, and the woman said "Johannes . . . Let's embed it into my . . . into our baby."

Kama's eyes widened as the video played on. Schicksal quietly asked "Have you lost your mind? I know this is your project, but . . . not our child . . ." The woman told him "It's a bridge that somebody has to cross. So why not us?"

Schicksal didn't have an answer, only offering up a desperate "But . . ."

Sakaki cautiously said "It's feasible . . . but I can't agree to it." The woman stubbornly told the two "I have no intention of letting our future children see a world on the brink of destruction."

It was silent for a few more seconds, and Kama noticed Schicksal straightening his body, as if bracing himself. "You . . . have my support." he hesitantly told her. Sakaki sighed, saying "Both parents approve, huh? Then there's no room for discussion, is there?"

After neither of the other two said anything, Sakaki declared "In that case, I'm taking myself off this project. Our methodology is too much at odds." The woman lost her composure, quietly pleading with him to reconsider.

Kama could see Sakaki was a good friend to them both, in a world where friends were limited and depleting with every passing day. He forced himself to watch further, knowing there was a point Sakaki wanted to make by having Kama watch the video.

Sakaki quietly murmured "I'll always be a Stargazer . . . I'm someone who observes the stars. I'm not going to interfere with your crucial decisions. I'm going to continue my Bias Factor research in my own way. I'm sure our paths will cross again." He got up as he said "Excuse me . . . goodbye."

The image faded out in static again, and was replaced with the image of a hospital room. The camera panned upward, then to the side to show the woman from before. She was laying on the bed, several months pregnant.

Schicksal, though Kama couldn't see him, asked "How are you feeling?" He assumed Schicksal was holding the camera as he listened to the woman say "Fine . . . And physically well, too." She looked down and gently placed a hand on her belly, saying "I can't wait for your birth . . ."

She looked up again and asked "Where's Sakaki?" Schicksal told her "He sent you a good luck charm for a safe delivery. But he's still unreachable." Her face fell, downcast as she muttered "I see . . . So he's still angry with us for pushing ahead with the project."

Schicksal gently told her "Don't think about that now. It's not good for you." She looked down for a moment more, then looked up to stare into the camera as she said "I want you to hold onto that good luck charm for me. Good luck tomorrow . . ." She smiled, and the image faded into static once more.

It was replaced by the image of Schicksal, sitting behind his desk, his hands crossed and propped under his cheek as he said "Hello, Paylor. It's been a long time. As you know, following that appalling incident, the Managarm Project was, for all intents and purposes, suspended."

"The only survivors of that accident were Soma, who was born carrying the Bias Factor, and myself, who happened to have your "Safe Birth Charm" in my possession." His face lowered, his hands covering everything but his eyes as he murmured "Who knew that the charm technology you developed would one day be used to build an anti-Aragami Armored Wall, protecting humankind from the Aragami?"

"As a scientist, I'm painfully aware that I cannot hold a candle to you. Most likely, you had predicted that this would come to pass . . . am I wrong?" He lowly chuckled as he sat back in his chair, telling the camera "Fear not . . . I'm not sending this email in order to blame you for anything."

He continued "In the coming weeks, I'll be appointed Director of the Fenrir Far East Branch." He folded his hands under his chin and leaned forward again, saying "And so, I'd like to ask you to join forces with me once again."

"In return, I promise you ample funding for your research . . . as well as being in charge of all development pertaining to the Gods Eaters." He paused, then added "By the way, I never introduced you to my son, Soma. Well, that being so, expect me to call on you in the near future. Until then, my friend."

Schicksal reached over to the side of the screen and turned off the recording, the screen fizzing into static for the last time. In its place, a silly page with an anime Ogretail on the bottom left and an anime Sakaki on the bottom right. In Sakaki's handwriting, there was a note on the screen saying "Anyone who picks up this disk should return it to Dr. Sakaki's lab."

Below it, it had written "Don't tell me you watched it . . .'

* * *

Kama blinked in confusion as the screen faded into black and the disk was ejected. He sat back, thinking on this new information as he placed the disk in his pocket absentmindedly.

Soma was born with Aragami cells in his body. For all intents and purposes, he is an Aragami. However, he never showed any hints of losing control, so he wasn't an Aragami. Kama was confused, so he put that to the side, focusing on the woman.

She was Soma's mother, but she died in an accident? Did it involve the Bias Factor embedded in Soma before he was born? Where did the accident happen? And what was this Managarm Project he heard Schicksal reference?

Kama breathed deeply, calming his thoughts. He would need to think on it another day. For now, he would return the disk to Sakaki and maybe knock out a mission. He left his room and headed downstairs to start up a mission.

It was based in the same temple area as before, and Kama grouped up with Soma, Kota, and Naoko to take down a few Ogretails. A nice, uncomplicated mission to clear Kama's head.

* * *

As they flew to the area in a helicopter, Soma was twitching in his sleep. Naoko leaned in to check on Soma, but as she got close he awoke with a loud "Damn it!", falling over in his seat. Naoko scrambled back, saying "Jeez, it's not nice to startle people like that, you know!"

Kota added "Seemed like you were having a nightmare. Are you alright?" Soma looked down and to the side, muttering "Yeah." Kota suddenly made a mocking sound of surprise, saying "Huh? That's not like you to be so civil!" Soma scoffed and told him "Back off! Just shut up."

Kota grinned, saying "There's the Soma we all know and love. He's fine, Naoko." he said to the recruit, who still looked nervous. At that moment, they got to the area, and Kama told everyone "Alright, you know the deal. Stay alive, keep the others in your team alive. Let's move!"

* * *

After that embarrassingly easy mission, they returned to the Den. Hibari told them "Apparently, Doctor Sakaki dropped a disk in the hallway earlier. If anyone finds it, please return it to him as soon as possible." Kama nodded and headed up the elevator, going to Sakaki's office.

When he got in the room, he pulled out the disk, saying "Is this what you were looking for?" Sakaki told him "Ah, yes, that's the one. You picked it up for me? I owe you one." as he accepted the disk, placing it in his coat pocket.

He asked "Needless to say, you didn't watch it or anything, did you? It's nothing, really. Just memories from my youth." Kama didn't say anything, watching Sakaki as he rambled. He suddenly said "Oh wait, I'm glad you're here! The thing is, I have a favor to ask of you." Kama asked "What can I help you with, Sakaki?"

"I'd like you to obtain the core of a certain Aragami. The Director asked me to assign this task while he's away." Kama nodded, his head tilting down from drowsiness.

He snapped his head up as Sakaki somehow snuck up on him, getting within a few inches of him while saying "No one else needs to know about this," Sakaki tilted his body so close that Kama had to lean back to avoid a collision, "especially not the director or your advisor."

Still leaning over Kama, he continued "You see, I've already asked Soma for the same favor . . . And I'd really like the two of you to take care of this somehow." After a few seconds of silence, Sakaki leaned back, allowing Kama to straighten his back again.

Sakaki said "If I recall, you've been promoted to Leader within the last month, haven't you? I never congratulated you." His tone changed as he suddenly veered onto a new topic. "I'm curious. Have you ever heard of the Managarm Project?"

Kama kept his face neutral as he said "No, sir." Sakaki seemed to approve, because he turned away and said "I have to tell you, there was nothing elegant about that experiment . . . I even lost a dear friend." He turned back to Kama and continued "And Soma, who was left behind, may be shouldering that negative legacy all on his own. I, myself . . . I am one of those whose actions warranted Soma's hatred."

He leaned far into Kama's space again as he asked "I'd like it if you could somehow befriend him. Please."

Kama's back started getting uncomfortable in his bent-back position, and he said "Sure, I'll try my hardest." Sakaki leaned back again, allowing Kama some room, and dismissed him from his room. Kama left, thinking _Sakaki has some serious space issues,_ while walking toward the elevator.

* * *

As he exited the elevator into the main lobby, he spotted Soma sitting on the upstairs couch. Kama walked toward him and asked "Mind if I sit?" Soma only shrugged, nodding his head at the seat across from him.

As Kama sat down, Soma asked "So what do you want? I'm about to head out on a mission Sakaki gave me," he added with a little groan. Kama told him "I was put on that mission, but I wasn't given any details. Where and what are we hunting?"

Soma huffed and said "Well, at least you're not useless in a fight. We're hunting a Magmatic Borg Camlann in the City of Mercy. Grab extra supplies and be alert, because Sakaki told me there were additional Aragami spotted in the area. No specifics, of course, but he told me to be very careful."

Kama nodded, heading off to grab more health pills and check out his equipment. He hadn't hunted any more Tigrex recently, so he still had his Primeval Growl. His gun, however, was upgraded from his old Yang Rifle N to Yang Rifle X. His shield was still Primeval Wall due to the lack of Tigrex materials, but he wasn't too concerned.

When he returned, Soma was sitting on the couch cleaning his blade. The large sawblade had graphite colored metal, the teeth stained red at their ends. He looked up, both men nodded, and they set off to the City of Mercy on foot.

* * *

When they got there, Soma asked "So which way should we look first?" Kama half closed his eyes, thinking about it, and said "We should check out the town square first, around the church." They headed in the direction of the church, Kama in his gun form and Soma with his blade in front of him.

They got close to the church before they heard the Camlann; a quiet, content-sounding hiss. It was probably eating or resting. "I hear it. Keep quiet, maybe we can surprise it." Kama whispered close to Soma's ear. He nodded, crouching and watching where he stepped.

They spotted it a minute later, eating some metal debris in a nearby alleyway. Kama motioned for Soma to move closer and charge his blade; Soma crouched as he moved toward it, careful not to alert it to his presence.

Kama loaded his gun with one of Arashi's Frozen Hellfire shots; It shot a large explosive shell at the target, a small cluster shot ejecting from the main bomb before it exploded. As the explosions were occuring, the cluster exploded above the target, raining pierce shots that bounced off of the floor back into the air to inflict more damage.

He aimed, signaled for Soma to charge, and fired as soon as Soma lunged with his charged blade. The effect was what they wanted; It's tail was cleaved completely off from Soma's slash, while it was holed like swiss cheese from Kama's Frozen Hellfire.

It was still alive, but several more shots from Kama put an end to its suffering. Soma allowed himself a grin, and Kama made a massive smile as well. "Mission complete! That was too easy!" he laughed. Soma devoured the core of the Borg Camlann and, swinging his sword to place it on his shoulder, they both started to walk back to the Den.

They reached the entrance to the city before they stopped, seeing Arashi and Sera arrive with their weapons at the ready. Kama asked "What's the deal? I thought two teams weren't allowed in the same area."

Arashi tilted his head and said "They thought you were back already. Didn't you get here by helicopter?" Soma rolled his eyes while Sera sighed, saying "We hope we aren't stepping on your toes."

Kama shook his head, saying "No, we just finished up here. What are you guys hunting, maybe we can help?" He looked to Soma to get his opinion, and he grumbled while nodding his head.

Arashi said "We're targeting an Electrified Chi-You. It was last reported around the church area." Kama glanced in surprise at Soma, saying "Wow. I wonder why we didn't see it?" Soma said "Good thing, too. It might've ruined our surprise attack."

Kama turned back to Arashi and said "Lead on. We'll cover you, since we don't have the right weapons." Kama was right; His weapon was ice element, as was Soma's weapon.

He wouldn't be much use against the Chi-You, but Arashi would be able to handle it himself. Arashi thanked him, and the four God Eaters set off back toward the church.

* * *

They started rushing as they heard an explosion, followed by a loud screeching. Arashi rounded the corner of the building first, and got a murderous expression on his face before charging in.

The other three rounded the corner at the same time, and Kama got the same facial expression. The Chi-You was fighting against the crystal scorpion from months ago. Kama turned his gun into the blade, and charged in as well. He wouldn't let it escape this time.

"Soma, stay back for now and cover Sera! Sera, be gunnery support! Arashi, finish off the Chi-You, then join me in killing the Scorpion!" Kama yelled, leaping and slashing the Scorpion's leg, the teeth of his chainsaw skidding off.

"Damn!" Kama swore as he jumped back, avoiding a fast tail swipe. He leaped right back in, thrusting his chainsaw like a spear, hoping to make a crack in the beast's shell. Arashi yelled "Done!" as he finished off the Chi-You, then switched to his gun to fire off a few Drill rounds.

The shots pounded into the Scorpion's shell, drilling holes and making cracks in the carapace. Kama targeted those, slashing and swiping until there was a decent-sized hole in the Scorpion's armor. The scorpion tensed up, it's tail laying flat against its back, and Arashi yelled "Back up, back up! Guard!" with panic in his voice.

Kama jumped backward and deployed his shield as the Scorpion flung its tail backward, letting loose a flurry of razor-sharp crystal spears that flew everywhere. Kama held his shield tightly, feeling some of the shards cut his arms, and released the shield when he heard the attack end.

He glanced around and assessed his team's damage; Sera had taken a couple shards in her chest, around her stomach. Soma's legs were slightly cut up, but his shield was still activated. Arashi was unharmed, having slid under the body of the Chi-You to use it as a meat shield.

Kama ran in, activating the chainsaw mechanism and thrusting it into the mouth of the Scorpion. He felt the teeth crack inward and saw the blood rush downward as the moving blades on his chainsaw made mincemeat of its mouth.

It roared, a very loud and deep sound despite looking like an insect, and threw Kama off by thrusting one of its tri-pointed claws at him. Kama yelled in pain and laid on the ground a few moments, clutching his bleeding chest.

Arashi distracted the beast by jumping onto it's back and slashing its neck and shell, swiping back and forth repeatedly until he saw the tender meat under the shell. He was flown clear as the Scorpion's tail fired a crystallized beam at itself, and the group watched in frustration as it's shell was fortified with more purple crystals.

Soma yelled "We can still kill it! C'mon!" as he dashed in, sword at the ready. Kama finished bandaging his stomach and was all but seething in rage, his eyes murderous. Sera kept back, firing at the beast and healing her teammates. Arashi rolled with the force, unhurt when he hit the ground a few feet away.

Soma and Arashi continued hacking and slashing at its legs while Kama switched to his gun and fired at the crystals on the beast's tail. It roared again and started flailing around, its tail swiping side to side and all around too fast to predict. Soma and Arashi backed up, then activated their shields again when the beast shot another crystal beam at them.

Their shields became covered in purple crystals, and they couldn't switch back to their swords until the crystals dissipated. Kama switched back to his chainsaw and dashed in, ducking under a tail swipe to slash one of its claws. The right claw broke apart, the top prongs breaking and lodging into the beast's side.

It roared in pain and quickly scuttled away, trying to escape. Kama chased it, keeping pace with it, and used his God Arc to grip the beast's tail. Kama was yanked off of his feet as the Scorpion continued running, Kama now hanging on by the jaws of his Devour mode.

As he held on, he noticed that the Scorpion had run past the city border and was headed to a mountain. It was nowhere near the mountain, but it seemed like it knew where it was going. Kama gritted his teeth and pulled himself along his weapon, like a rope.

He managed to climb on top of the Scorpion's back and released his weapon's grip on the beast's tail. He anchored himself on the escaping creature's back and, angling his chainsaw down into the Scorpion's neck like he did with the Camlann on the mission where he was promoted, thrust downward through the thin part of its shell.

Kama felt the carapace give way as his weapon ripped its way through the meat of the Scorpion. Its roars reached near-supersonic as it halted and thrashed around furiously. It couldn't dislodge Kama, however, and it eventually collapsed from the pain.

Kama still shoved his blade in the ragged meat, cutting and ripping until he was sure the beast would never recover. He hopped off of the beast's back, kicked it to make sure it was dead, and looked at his surroundings.

He was at the entrance to a cave system at the base of the mountain. It's the same mountain Kama, Arashi, and Alisa had fought the Tigrex on, so Kama was wary as he slowly glanced around him. Seeing nothing out of place, he devoured the Scorpion's core and grabbed his communicator.

"Kama here. Mission completed, how's the others?" he said as soon as he raised Arashi. Arashi told him "No major injuries." He paused, then said in a quieter voice "Did you truly kill it?" Kama said "Yeah. I'm not sure if it's the same one that killed . . . the people we know, but you can hurry to my position and check for yourself."

"Roger, I'm on my way." Arashi said, then the screen went black. Kama heard a feline growl off to his right, and turned with his weapon ready. In the cave entrance, he could see the vague shape of a large cat.

As it slowly wandered out of the cave, teeth clenched in hostility, he saw that it was similar, if not the same, as the black furred creature that saved him from the Tigrex.

It was far more developed now; it had the same body structure as the Tigrex, long black fur all over its body, large claws on each of its paws. It crouched low, raising a long tail with a cluster of thin spikes at the tail tip.

As Kama raised his sword, the shield prepared to activate just in case, he observed the face. It had a long muzzle, furry feline ears, and sharp teeth. One of its eyes was a different color, though. Kama stopped, shocked into inaction.

_It has a human-shaped green eye!_ he thought excitedly, hoping it would recognize him from before.

His hopes fell as it moved one paw step closer, and then another, swiping its tongue across its elongated mouth, a low purr coming from its throat.

Kama raised his blade, prepared to fight, until he heard Arashi saying "Kama, come back he- Oh, hell, that thing again?!" He risked a glance behind him to see Soma and Arashi with their swords out, Sera with her gun pointed at the beast.

He turned back to see the black-furred Aragami flinch away and back away, hiding inside the cave. Arashi turned to the scorpion corpse while Soma said "We can't let it get away. We need to chase it down!"

Kama put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, rushing an excuse as to why they couldn't attack right now. "We're all tired from fighting right now; do you fancy your chances against an unknown Aragami when you are exhausted? Let's record it's position and head back to the Den to rest up."

Soma grumbled, but eventually nodded his consent. They turned to see Arashi scavenging up as much of the scorpion as he could, face streaked with tears. He stopped mid-devour, mouth falling open, and reached down to grab something from the carcass.

He pulled out a damaged armlet. It was still intact, so it wasn't Kinaia's armlet. Arashi twisted it around, trying to find something, and fell to his knees. He clutched the armlet close to his chest, murmuring "I'm so sorry, Aisuru, I'm so sorry . . ." through his tears.

Kama gave him space and called in an evac helicopter. There was no way he was risking the lives of his team while that unknown Aragami was around.

_Even if I think it's Kinaia's transformed body,_ he thought to himself gloomily.

* * *

A/N: The ending tied up a few loose ends that were mentioned earlier in the story. The person Arashi was talking about as he gripped the damaged armlet was mentioned in chapter 9: New Recruits, Old Wounds.

The monster hunter junkies in my audience will recognize the two beasts referenced from the middle onward. I think I could've done the fight against the scorpion better, but it's hard since I've never played Frontier myself, and relied on a youtube video ;n;

Cheers~


	17. Floodgate of the Fallen

I've been informed by A Jack Frost Guy that the feature I was referencing, Quest Invasion, was actually a MHF3 feature, not a Frontier feature. Sorry for that inaccuracy. :C

I request that you not make any assumptions about where this storyline is headed. I haven't left nearly enough clues to suggest where it's going, and I assure you it will be unique! …At least, I haven't seen anything like it so far on the website xD

Enjoy~

* * *

After the group returned to the Den, Arashi went straight to his room. He had stopped crying, but Kama had ordered him to take a few days off.

Kama knew about Arashi's history, as well as the mission of his that went horribly wrong. The scorpion that Kama's group had killed, now being called Akura Vashimu, was the exact same one that had murdered Arashi's childhood friends and comrades.

The armlet he had found belonged to the only God Eater in his team that he did not see die. Her name was Aisuru Tokai, and she was 16 the day she was marked MIA. She had been thrown off of a cliff while she was still alive, and a body had not been recovered.

Arashi knew it was Aisuru's armlet because there was a tiny scratch on the side of the armlet in a specific spot. Aisuru had tried to crack her armlet open because her hand had been burned, and the Den doctor startled her, altering her aim and scratching the armlet rather than breaking it.

Kama asked Sakaki to verify the owner of the armlet, and Sakaki confirmed the details: Aisuru Tokai, age 16, believed to have been killed in the "Frosty Retrieval" mission a year ago. Kama nodded and started to leave, but Sakaki stopped him.

"I know you want to rest, but Johannes gave me a mission to assign to you. You have to keep it to yourself, you cannot have help, and you have to deny all questions related to the mission asked by anyone other than myself, Johannes, or anyone in the Fenrir Military Force." Sakaki warned.

Kama told him "I understand. I have to fight it alone. What's the mission?" Sakaki hesitated for a moment and said "Your goal . . . is to retrieve the core of an Ouroboros sighted nearby."

Kamas eyes widened. "So soon? Are you sure I'm ready?" he asked, his voice tight with tension. Sakaki smiled reassuringly and told him "You are more than ready. Don't underestimate yourself, Kama."

Kama took a deep breath, stifling the nerves in his stomach, and said "When do I leave?" He wanted to take care of a few personal things first.

"Now, if you can. We don't know how long the Ouroboros will stay in place." Sakaki answered, to his dismay. _Well, damn. No other choice, then. Let's get this over with,_ Kama thought to himself.

He nodded and headed out into the hallway, going to his room for a soda and checking what the Ouroboros weakness was. His eye twitched when he discovered it's weakness was Divine, and braced himself for a long fight.

He talked to Hibari, who was allowed to know about any and all special missions Kama undertook, and signed him up for the Ouroboros core retrieval mission. "Remember, get in, get the core, get out. Don't get sidetracked." Hibari told him quietly. He nodded, headed down to storage to grab his God Arc, and started walking.

* * *

The Ouroboros was located in a plains area, the ground flat and decaying from the excessive Oracle cells in the area. It took Kama no time at all to locate the Ouroboros because it was so large, and he gulped in nervousness as he examined the monstrocity.

It was easily the size of a skyscraper, dark purplish-green skin, a massive tail covered with lichen, and dozens of large tentacles ranging in size from the length of a vehicle to half the length of a skyscraper. It was walking on makeshift tentacle legs, and its face had several insect-like eyes, large and bulbous.

There were two horns extending from the top of its head, going around and under its head similar to a goat who's horns had been left to grow. Its posture was stooped like an elderly person, but its arms were thick and sinewy, writhing from the tentacles that made them exist.

Kama took a few more deep breaths, wondering why he had to do this alone, and snuck behind it, aiming to finish this quickly. He jumped on the tail tip, running along its body with his blade slicing a trail as he ran.

The Ouroboros, now alerted to Kama's presence, let loose a thundering roar and flapped its tail, making Kama fly off and to the side. He rolled when he landed, minimizing the damage, and had to jump in order to avoid a sweep from one of its massive tentacles.

He dashed in, slashing at its arms a few times before backing away to avoid several smaller tentacles thrusting out of its leg, trying to impale him like a Cocoon Maiden. He switched to his gun and fired several Divine Hellfire shots into the Ouroboros' face, shattering a few of its eyes.

It roared again, lifting both of its arms and thrusting them into the ground. Kama felt the rumbling under him and had to roll to the side to avoid a spike coming out of the ground. He didn't see the next one, and it scraped against his arm as he got up from the first roll.

He grit his teeth, clasping his arm and squeezing in a desperate attempt to stave off the pain. He threw a flash bomb to blind the beast. When the loud **BANG!** went off, he quickly took out his bandages and wrapped them around his arm before eating a Blood Plasma pill to replace the blood he lost.

He knew his time ran out when the Ouroboros roared, loud and long, and threw its arms out to its side. Kama had no time to close his eyes or turn when the blinding flash came from its eyes, leaving Kama blind for a few moments. _An eye for an eye, eh?_ Kama thought grimly.

He ran backwards while blinded, knowing it was foolish to stand near the Ouroboros while he couldn't defend himself. His vision returned slowly as he rubbed them, trying to see again. He was surprised when, the moment he could see, one of the tentacles wrapped itself around his leg and pulled.

He was yanked off of his feet, his satchel of flash bombs falling to the ground as he was hoisted high into the air. He was pulled to the Ouroboros, and he noticed with horror that it's large mouth, layered with hundreds of razor sharp teeth, was open and getting closer.

Kama switched to his gun form and shot at the beast, shooting anywhere and everywhere he could aim. It seemed like the Ouroboros was taunting him, playing with its food before it ate. It would hold him in place before roughly yanking him a little closer, repeating the cycle a few times before . . .

Kama shook his head, aiming his guns at the beast's eyes and shooting all of them as he got closer. He refused to become Aragami chow for this overgrown ball of vines!

One of his shots must've hit something important, because the Ouroboros roared in pain and whipped the tentacle holding Kama like a wet rag. Kama went flying and smacked chest first against the dirt, tumbling a few times and left to catch his breath as the Aragami flailed its tentacles, all of its eyes either bleeding or broken.

Kama loaded some Explosive Divine Clusters into his Yang Rifle X and pounded the shots into the Aragami's head, not letting up until it fell to the ground with one last mighty screech, the extra tentacles shriveling up after the main body died.

Kama was panting from both exhaustion and terror, his mouth dry. The silence was unnerving him, so he said aloud "So, you wanted to eat me? Enjoy dining in hell, you tentacled monster." His voice shook, but he didn't care at the time.

He radioed the Den and got Sakaki on the line. "Well? How did it go?" Sakaki implored. Kama said with a shaky breath "Mission complete. The Ouroboros is dead, and he won't be dining on anymore humans ever." Sakaki got a big smile as he exclaimed "Excellent! I'll send in an evac helicopter now. Sit tight."

Kama sat on the ground, letting the sweat drop from his face as he waited for the helicopter to take him away from this waking nightmare.

* * *

When Kama boarded the helicopter, the only thing he said to the pilot was "Thanks" as he downed an entire gallon of water that was offered to him. He sat against the seat, feeling a little pissed that he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about this.

The trip didn't take long, and within ten minutes he was back at the Den. He noticed a commotion happening downstairs in the lobby, so he leaned over the rail and assessed the situation.

Sera was a complete wreck, tears dripping down her face as she yelled at Hibari to "Send in another team", while Hibari tried to calm Sera down. Kama walked downstairs and asked "What's the matter, Sera?"

She turned to him and buried her face into his neck as she held him in a vicegrip. He was about to ask what got over her when she cried out "Arashi was knocked off the side of the aircraft carrier! I couldn't find him anywhere!"

Kama felt his heart skip a beat. _Not Arashi. There has to be a mistake._ "Where were you?" Kama almost yelled, shaking Sera to get her to focus. She whimpered out "We were on an aircraft carrier near a coastal town. We were fighting a Vajra, but there were more than reported! Two more jumped us, the first knocked him into the water and lobbed an electric ball into the water. I couldn't stay any longer because a fourth appeared too! I couldn't do anything, and Arashi's dead!"

Kama was silent for a few moments. Anyone looking at his face would've seen the intense rage building in his eyes. He ordered Hibari "Call Sakuya, have her help Sera to her room." Hibari asked "What about you?"

Kama narrowed his eyes in menace. "I'm going tiger hunting. Nothing puts my friend's head on their trophy wall and gets away with it." Hibari called Sakuya, told her the situation quietly, and signed Kama up for the mission.

He headed off as soon as he got the mission, even with Hibari exclaiming "Wait, aren't you going to wait for backup?" Kama growled out "I don't need it," as he set off, his new Primeval Growl already in his hand.

_Four Vajra, ten Vajra, a hundred Vajra, it doesn't matter. I'll get revenge, and I won't fail again,_ he promised himself as he took a helicopter to the only functional coastal town in the region, bloodlust in his eyes.

* * *

He was dropped off in the center of the town, the streets crowded as news spread like wildfire: "Did you hear? A pack of Vajras killed a God Eater this morning!" "He was electrocuted in the ocean!" "I thought Gods Eaters were invincible . . . what hope is left for the rest of us if even our protectors can die?"

Kama had heard enough and yelled "Shut up!" while brandishing his God Arc, frustrated that the civilians had nothing better to do than gossip. "Get in your homes, hide yourselves and your children, and let me do my fucking job without worrying about your safety as well!" he snarled. The civilians quickly dispersed, abruptly deciding his advice was good.

Kama headed several miles south toward the beach, hearing the growls and purrs of several Vajra before he saw them. He kept walking, feeling a new level of anger blossom inside him. He wanted these monsters to die, to bleed. To feel every piece of pain they caused Arashi, Sera, and himself.

As he came into sight of them, not even bothering to sneak up on them, the roars that they made built on his rage. All of the people he witnessed die, all the people whose lives he risked day after day after day . . . These Aragami dared to threaten him and those he protected.

* * *

(/watch?v=RunfFTrTq5k) (youtube)

He engaged his shield to block a side claw from one, and twisted to block a second Vajra. The last two chose to shoot rapid bolts of electricity at him, trying to break through his guard. Each loud echo seemed to act as a hammer against the floodgate that was his control.

Each blow weakened the floodgate until, with a colossal roar of freed emotions, Kama snapped. He disengaged his sword and dashed in, activating his God Arc to devour the front leg of one of the Vajra as he twisted out of the way of the second.

He felt energized from the Burst of energy the bite gave him, and he dashed back in front of the Vajra he devoured to make a homerun swing across its face, the teeth of the chainsaw tearing armor, skin, and muscle alike.

Kama finished off that Vajra with a downward slash, making a large gouge in its torso and splitting its head in half. He engaged his shield to block a lunge from the second Vajra, and he turned to face it when it landed.

It lunged again, reaching out with its paws on either side to prevent him from rolling away. He engaged his shield and guarded with the shield at an angle. The Vajra went slightly higher due to this, leaving Kama able to duck so that he was under the Aragami while it was in midair, its belly completely open.

He stabbed upward, gutting the Aragami from neck to tail, and flung the excess blood off of his chainsaw onto the ground. His eyes were still blazing with rage, and the bloodlust called him, taunted him.

He answered the call, even though he knew it only wanted his destruction.

Both of the remaining Vajras attacked at once, and time seemed to slow down as adrenaline flooded Kama's system. He could see every detail on both Vajras, how the electricity seemed to arc in slow motion along its fur and each of its claws.

He saw a thin gash along the right one's mouth, looking like a large toothed blade had slashed it. At the same time, he saw dark red blood on one of its paws, as well as a ripped piece of cloth. It was the same material as the shirt type Arashi usually wore.

Kama ducked, feeling like he was underwater as he moved, and slashed diagonally to cut off the offending paw. _This is the one that killed Arashi. I'm sure of it._ The thought blazed like a hot iron in Kama's mind as he angled that same slash to decapitate the second Vajra, which had jumped at the same time and was right next to Arashi's murderer.

Time resumed its normal pace, and the Vajra on the left was flopping around; even when it was headless, blind, deaf, and mute, it was still alive and moving. Kama turned to the headless Vajra and stabbed it in its chest, turning on the chainsaw mechanism and slicing the beast into pieces.

The last Aragami, which was missing a paw, tried to limp away as Kama was killing the third Vajra. Kama's mind started to get hazy as he got addicted to the feeling of dominating these beasts. _They've caused so much trouble before. Damaging Alisa's mind, killing her parents, killing everyone Sera knew, murdering Lindow and Kinaia, and now killing Arashi. This feeling, this . . . bloodlust . . . is completely justified._

He kept repeating that in his head as he cruelly walked over to the limping Vajra and cut off its other front leg, watching it collapse to the floor, and raising his chainsaw to stab it into the Vajra's skull.

* * *

As Kama stared at the aftermath, he wondered how he had gone so long without exploding like that. _Is that why Kinaia chose to use the Burst hammer? How far can I fall before i've fallen too far?_ Kama shook his head, losing all of his energy. Yes, he took revenge, but he couldn't bring Arashi back.

He was a failure as a leader. He lost his old Den, he lost his first friend, he lost his old leader, and now he lost his best friend.

(Song End. All rights and ownership go to Nine Inch Nails for making such perfect insanity music)

With tears in his eyes, he stared at the ocean and sat on the sand. The results of his massacre all around him, yet he couldn't find the energy to care.

* * *

In the morning, Sakaki called Hibari and asked "Do you, by chance, know where Kama is? I can't find him in the Den anywhere."

Hibari told him "Let me check when he finished his last mission." A lengthy pause, a quiet "what the . . ." from Hibari's end, as if she had the communicator away from her mouth, and she picked up again, saying "He . . . never called in to complete the mission. His armlet biomonitor is still functioning perfectly, but he stayed out of the Den all day yesterday and all night."

Sakaki remained silent for a few moments, before saying "Thank you, Hibari. Let me know when he comes back." He hung up and placed the communicator on his desk, staring at it for several minutes without saying a word.

Still silent, he picked up the communicator and dialed a number he knew by heart. Holding it to his ears, he waited three dial tones before the other person picked up. "Yes, Sakaki? Any news to report?"

Sakaki, with a strained voice, said "Yes, I think you pushed your project too far. The second piece is straying from the nest, we've already lost the first piece, and we have yet to find the third. The longer we continue to experiment with this, the harder it will be to break it off successfully."

The man on the other line was silent for a time, and Sakaki began to wonder if the other man had hung up until he responded, saying "Alright. Keep me posted. You know we can't break it off now, not when we're so close to our goal."

Sakaki sighed, saying "I understand. Remember, Johannes, this is all on you now. One mistake could kill us all." The other man, Johannes, chuckled while saying "We have this all under control. There's no way this could fail, not when we've prepared so thoroughly for this."

Sakaki muttered "Isn't that what you said for the Managarm Project?" Silence on both sides, then "Keep me posted." as the other man turned off his communicator.

Sakaki stared at his communicator, before abruptly throwing it across the room. It shattered against the wall, and Sakaki placed his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his desk and breathing roughly. Had anyone else been in the room with Sakaki, they would've seen the raw panic of a man with regrets.

* * *

A/N: Ooh, the storyline moves along swiftly! How will Arashi's death switch things up? Where is Kama? What is Sakaki talking about? Find out next chapter, but don't hold any assumptions!

This chapter is a lot shorter than my usual ones, but I hope the two fights in this chapter more than make up for it. Also, if anyone who reads this has played Dead Space 1 all the way to the end boss, you'll recognize the Ouroboros fight :P

Cheers~


	18. Good Job, Leader!

And now, continuing on!

Enjoy~

* * *

Arashi could only see darkness. Darkness was good, much better than pain. Almost like . . . he could . . . fall into it . . .

A sharp static shock snapped him out of these thoughts, and he opened his eyes to find his surroundings blurry. A voice he had never heard before said "You awake. Stay awake. You not sleep." It sounded choppy, almost metallic, and Arashi turned his head all around, trying to find the source of the voice.

As his eyes cleared, he started seeing more and more about where he was. He was in a hollow, light-blue tunnel, the ground wet with an inch of water covering it. He tried moving, but his nerves wouldn't respond to his mental commands. He began to panic, but the odd voice from before said "Calm. You stay calm."

He managed to turn his head to the right, and saw something odd. It looked human shaped, slightly taller than Arashi. It's body was slender and agile, like a dancer. It had legs and arms that looked human, but the legs were blocky and thick at the ankles, and its arms had blades running from the wrist to the elbow, right against the skin.

It had a torn black robe covering its body, as well as a tattered head band covering both of its eyes. Arashi could see a metallic dark gray covering underneath the robe, as well. The being's face was interesting; It had long black hair that divided into two ponytails resembling scythe blades, but it had a metallic sheen to it, as if it weren't just hair.

Arashi whispered "You . . . are you an . . . Ara . . . gami?" The being nodded, and pointed to itself, saying "Name, Aron." It's voice was gravelly, but clearer than before. Arashi tilted his head in confusion. _Since when could Aragami talk or have names?_

Arashi said in a croaking voice "My name . . . is Arashi." Aron nodded, as if it understood. It stood up, revealing a long, thin tail with spikes at the end, as well as revealing his feet. They had four toes each, a sharp claw on the end of each toe. It reached out it's hand, also with four claws, and held it in front of Arashi.

Aron huffed - creepily similar to the noise an impatient human would make, Arashi noticed - and said "Grab hand. Stand." Arashi weakly held his hand out and grabbed the offered help, slowly being pulled to his feet. Arashi licked his lips a few times, getting them wet, and said "The . . . the ship. My friend, is she . . .?"

Aron nodded, saying "She run, live. You fall, almost die. Vajra try kill you." Arashi's eyes widened in shock. "So, you . . . saved me?" Aron nodded, its face showing that it was pleased that Arashi understood. "Come." it said, walking down one of the flooded tunnels. Arashi followed slowly.

"Could I get some . . . water, please?" Arashi asked, his voice cracking. Aron nodded and pulled an object out of one of the robe's pockets. Arashi noticed it was his own canteen, and he gulped down the liquid as if he never had a drop before. "Thanks. So, where are we?" Arashi asked after clearing his throat.

_How long have I been down here? Why did an Aragami save me? What happened to the others?_ Thoughts rapidly bounced around in Arashi's head, and vaguely he noticed a small tube connecting Arashi's wrist to something hidden inside Aron's coat.

Arashi sharply inhaled, thinking _The Aragami tricked me, I'm being infected, gotta escape-_, but Aron told him "Cord healing. You almost die, no blood, no oracle. Remove cord, you die." Arashi shakily asked "Why should I believe you? You're just an Aragami, you could be waiting for me to let my guard down."

Aron paused for a second, thinking. Eventually, he removed his robe, showing him an odd body armor with eight holes, two rows going horizontal, in the chest. There were seven tubes with large needles attached to them in the holes, the eighth tube in Arashi's wrist, keeping him alive.

"Aron made by humans. Aron failure. They throw Aron away. Aron find new purpose." he said, and Arashi felt a rush of pity, followed by confusion. "Made by humans? Who made you? What were you supposed to be?"

Aron paused, thinking. Arashi later learned he was translating his language into Arashi's language, as well as storing new words into his mind. Aron finally answered "Humans called Phehnereer. Aron supposed to be killer. Aron supposed to be key piece. One of three." He looked down, suddenly downcast. "Aron failure. No purpose, no friends. Alone."

Arashi clarified "Phehnereer? Who is . . ." he trailed off, connecting the dots. Not Phenereer . . . _**Fenrir!**_ "You were made by Fenrir? To be a killer, one of three keys?" Arashi quickly said, feeling his heart beating faster.

Aron nodded, and asked "You Fenrir?" Arashi hesitated and said "Yes, and no. Fenrir made me into a killer, but I am not one of those that make killers." Aron was silent, thinking. He said "Aron sense others. Others like him. Several have become him, some are you, and one is both me and you."

Arashi's brain hurt from trying to translate his broken English. "Others like you . . . Aragami? Or do you mean killers, or keys? Several are me? Do you mean human?" Arashi slowly listed off. Aron clarified "Several keys, some not complete. Some are me, some are Aragami, some are human, only three keys are compatable." His voice was getting less choppy, more coherent.

Arashi thought about it in silence as they continued walking through the tunnels. Suddenly, Aron told him "Prepare for lifeline ejection. Brace against the wall." Arashi placed his hand against the wall like he was told and felt a searing pain from his arm as the needle pushed itself out of his wrist. Chemicals left behind made a thin layer of skin over the hole, but it still burned like crazy.

Arashi held in his scream, punching the wall instead with his good hand until the pain subsided to manageable levels. Aron questioned him "Can we continue?" Arashi nodded, taking deep breaths. They continued walking down the tunnel, Arashi with far less energy now that he wasn't getting fresh nutrients into his body.

He looked around, hoping to find something he recognized. The subways here weren't filled with lava; they had large pools of luminescent water surrounding them. Arashi asked about them, and Aron said "Luminous lichen. Normally found in Terra's mantle. I brought it here, to light the way." Arashi whistled, impressed.

As they continued on, Arashi noticed several small paths that branched off of the main path. "Where do those lead?" he asked. Aron looked where he was pointing and said "Failed experiments, like me. They had no use and were too violent to be allowed to reproduce in the wild."

Arashi stopped, the sentence bringing two new questions to the forefront of Arashi's mind. "Two things I need to ask. Did Fenrir create all of these monsters?" Aron nodded, and he continued, "And how did your grammar improve just by talking to me?"

Aron smirked as he informed Arashi, "The tube I used to heal you wasn't meant for healing at first. It was originally made for bioengineering interfacing. I am a walking, breathing, thinking lifeform hacking device. I accessed your mind's lexicon so I could better speak with you."

Arashi raised an eyebrow and said "That's . . . slightly disturbing, and more than a little creepy. Why on terra would Fenrir make you to be a bioengineered hacker?" Aron sighed and said "He wished to speak with the being he was summoning." Arashi turned his head to look at Aron oddly, and asked "'He'? And who was he summoning?"

Aron started to answer, but stopped, saying "There is another coming. He's very close, and we cannot be together at the same time. I have to go. I'll talk with you again someday." he quickly ran into a side tunnel just as Arashi heard footsteps echoing in front.

Arashi bravely called out "Who's there? Show yourself!" He had his weapon, in case it was an enemy, but he doubted he would be able to lift the weapon for more than a minute.

The footsteps paused, then resumed with far increased speed, as if someone just went from walking to running. As Arashi couldn't see five feet in front of him, he braced himself, only to be struck speechless as Kama ran into view, his skin covered by a dark substance, panting on his knees in front of Arashi.

"Arashi! We thought you . . . I thought . . . Sera told us you were killed!" Kama exclaimed, catching his breath. Arashi's eyes widened as he looked closer and saw the substance was blood, far darker than human blood. "What did you get yourself into while I was gone?"

Kama looked at the blood on his clothes, and said "I might have gotten a little carried away with the Vajra pack that made us think you were dead." with a shrug. Arashi's eyes widened in surprise. "How long have i been gone? And is Sera alright?" Arashi asked, not completely trusting the helpful informative Aragami.

Kama nodded, telling him "Sera is alright, just scared to death that you were dead. You've been gone three days. So have I, to be honest." he looked to the side sheepishly as he continued, "I was in a completely depressed attitude, I didn't return to the Den for the last three days. Like hell I could return without proof that you were alive or dead. We already did that with two others, and look how that turned out."

Arashi nodded, suddenly losing his energy and collapsing to his knees. Kama put his arm around Arashi's shoulder and supported him, saying "Woah! Can't have you keeling over now that I found you alive and well, can we?" Arashi weakly laughed, and Kama said "Just hang tight. We have quite the distance to walk, and then we can get out of here."

Arashi asked "Speaking of, where is 'here'?" It didn't look familiar, but if what Aron had said was true, it had been around for a long time. Kama said "It's one of the lava veins from an extinct volcano. It hasn't had lava in the core since before the Aragami showed up, and it's beneath the ocean. Right now, we're deep underneath a mountain range, possibly under the sea level."

Arashi's eyes widened, and he told Kama "Listen, you aren't gonna believe what I just heard. I think it's important, considering who told me . . ."

* * *

The rest of the walk had been filled with thoughtful silence. Kama was paying attention to where they stepped, as well as letting the information Arashi told him sink in. _So, one of the higher-ups wants to contact . . . something, and he needs three keys to do it? Sounds like we need to either silence the higher-up, sever contact with the thing, or hide, possibly destroy the keys._

Kama stopped thinking. His head hurt, and he just wanted to focus on the fact that Arashi was alive and well. It was pure luck that Kama had spotted the unknown Aragami from before . . .

_***time rewind: 1 day, 10 hours***_

Kama had been looking all around the aircraft carrier, searching for any hope that Arashi had somehow lived. So far, his search was proving just as much of a failure as when he searched for Kinaia and Lindow. He leaned against the railing of the large ship, looking at the sea as he collected his thoughts.

_I can't go home. Not without Arashi, and not unless he's alive. If I return without him, I won't be able to live with myself._ Kama tightened his resolve; He had been AWOL from the Den for 38 hours, and he can be missing for however long it takes.

Just as Kama stood up from the railing, grabbing an apple from his pack to stave off his hunger, he heard a rapid skittering sound, like a dog running along the floor. _Only,_ he thought as he twisted around with his blade ready, the hair on the back of his neck rising, _there aren't any dogs around._

As if his luck couldn't get any worse, he spotted Kinaia's Aragami form, the cat-like Aragami stopping several feet away and pausing. Both eyes looked green and human, and Kama blinked in confusion. Did her transformation revert slightly?

The feline head tilted, as if it were confused. Kama decided to try and communicate; even if it didn't work, he wouldn't feel any more crazy than he already was.

"Kinaia, can you hear me? Can you understand me?" Kama clearly asked with a loud voice. The cat's ears pointed straight up, then folded flat against its head, the eyes narrowing slightly. Kama pushed onward, "Please, I need your help. Arashi was attacked yesterday, and I need to find him!"

* * *

Her mouth started widening in the beginnings of a snarl until Kama said Arashi's name. She halted, her mouth closing again, looking down and tilting her head, as if in thought. Kama held his breath, not believing his luck.

She growled, craning her neck to face the snowy mountains. She didn't remember very many things in the shadowy void her old body and human consciousness was in, but she recognized Kama's scent, as well as Arashi's scent. She could smell, very faintly, Arashi's and another Aragami's scents heading toward the mountains. She could also clearly smell Kama's fear, as well as Vajra blood and . . . a familiar taint. Insanity.

She glanced sideways at Kama to see if he understood, and saw his gaze follow hers, and his eyes brightened with relief. She purred, a deep vibration in her chest, and watched as he ran full sprint in the direction of the mountains.

She snorted, wondering why he continued wasting his time. _The Nargakuga has told me the truth, and she waited patiently while I fought against understanding, and eventually was forced to accept it. Kama will figure it out soon enough. There are far darker things than Aragami in this world._

She shook her head roughly, shaking the thought away as if a fly had rested on her ear. For now, she would hunt. After that, rest for another day. That is all she can do, and all she ever truly wanted, even as a human.

* * *

Kama ran to the mountain, hardly stopping to catch his breath. He had been halted a few times by Aragami, but he quickly cut them down and continued on his way. He was confused as to why Kinaia seemed to want to help him, but didn't question it. If it helped him find Arashi alive and well, so be it.

After a few hours of running, he reached the base of the mountain at nightfall. He wanted to keep going, but his head was dizzy with exhaustion and his legs were rubbery from hunger. He had a few pieces of his private stash of Aragami Jerky, privately remembering how Arashi had the idea one rainy mission, and fell asleep, in a good mood for the first time that week.

Kama awoke at the feeling of cold water splashing the back of his neck, and quickly got to his feet to discover the tree he had slept under was covered in melting snow. He laughed to himself, nervously wiping away the slush from inside his shirt, then travelling up the mountain through the caves.

As he went inside, he wondered where Arashi would be. He spent over half the day searching every nook and cranny, and decided to take a break by a large formation of ice crystals in the main, spiraling cave.

As he leaned against the ice crystal right next to the hole, he wasn't paying attention as he leaned too much on the crystal. He heard a loud **CRACK!**, felt himself lean backwards with the ice crystal, but he couldn't do anything to stop himself before he was falling into the hole.

He fell for what felt like minutes, landing in a massive pile of snow. It cushioned his landing, and he climbed out of the snow drift to look up. The hole mouth was a long way up, and Kama didn't fancy his chances of climbing that way.

He tried raising Sakaki on the communicator, but saw that he landed on it when he fell. The screen was cracked and snow was on and inside the crack. He threw the broken communicator away with disgust, and saw another cave on his right, slightly below him. He slid off the snow pile and examined the cave.

It looked natural, so Kama, with his gun out, cautiously walked into the tunnel. As he walked farther, he noticed his vision was getting better the deeper he went. As he looked around, searching for the source of this odd realization, he saw small, glowing pools on the sides of the path.

He traveled farther, putting away his weapon to conserve energy, and was amazed that no one had ever been in this area before. It was massive, paths leading into holes of many different sizes in several walls. The paths spread out and combined in the shape of a spider web, and the room he had entered was funnel-shaped, the center was a hole that looked pretty deep, as well as ominous at the same time.

The air was frigidly cold, easily 20 below or more. The ambient light was a faded light blue because of the various glowing pools, and Kama was awestruck by its beauty. He circled around to another path and entered, feeling a narrow wall leading him in one direction.

After several minutes, it widened to a width where three people could walk side-by-side comfortably. He continued walking, feeling like he could get lost if he wasn't careful, and stopped as he heard scuffling in the distance. He changed his weapon into a sword, holding it at the ready in front of him as he entered a new room.

This room was a wide, circular room with ice crystals all over the walls and ceiling. The floor was made of a black, rugged surface, and there were no glowing pools to help him see. He kept walking, listening to the scuffling, and heard a gruff noise. Like a voice, but he couldn't make out the words because it was so far away.

He crouched, keeping his sword on his back but making sure it was easy to pull out, and continued walking. The room he entered was very tall, so acoustics would make every step of his echo off the walls. He stopped walking when he heard a familiar voice call out "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Kama's mouth dropped open in shock, certainly not believing his luck. He ran toward the voice, desperate to see who he thought he heard. He stopped, five feet to spare, in front of the one person he trusted most in the world. "Arashi! We thought you . . . I thought . . . Sera told us you were dead!"

There he was, standing with a surprised look on his face. His skin was very pale, his hair torched at the ends from the electricity he had endured in the water. He was surprised as well, asking "What did you get yourself into while I was gone?"

Kama was confused, remembering the Vajra blood that he didn't clean off at all when Arashi pointed at Kama's clothes. "I might have gotten a little carried away with the Vajra pack that made us think you were dead." he said dismissively, not wanting to focus on them now that he knew Arashi was alive.

Kama saw that he was about to fall from exhaustion, so Kama lent him his shoulder, saying "Woah! Can't have you keeling over now that I found you alive and well, can we?" Kama made a fake laugh to join in with Arashi, mentally falling over with relief. _To lose so many friends, only to find one again, means so much more than I can express. Trustworthy friends are priceless treasures in this forsaken world._ he thought to himself.

* * *

_***present time***_

Kama led Arashi through the tunnels, admiring the sights once again. He found it hard to believe that nothing, not an Aragami or a human, had found these caves, but he wasn't complaining. These caves were _expansive_, covering at least several dozen miles of paths and turns. He looked around, suddenly not remembering the fork they arrived at, and turned right.

A few minutes later they arrived at another fork in the path, and Kama felt a flicker of panic. _Not lost, stay calm, we'll get out of this soon enough._ Arashi, being the observant and blunt teenager he was, asked "Kama, you're lost, aren't you?"

Kama stopped for a second, slapping the back of Arashi's head while saying "Shut the hell up. I know exactly . . . where . . ." he trailed off at a third fork, making Arashi snort with laughter. "What were you saying, again?" he poked fun at Kama's frowning face. Kama forced a grin and said "Laugh it up, kid. I can easily make your life hell when we get out of here."

Arashi raised an eyebrow, sarcastically questioning "Oh? How so, oh Wise and Powerful Leader?" Kama fake-whispered "I know what you're afraid of." Arashi's eyebrow twitched, and he sighed before saying "What would that be, hmm?" Kama smiled and kept his mouth shut, prompting Arashi to start wondering.

"Okay, now you're just screwing with me. Fess up!" Arashi demanded. Kama kept smiling and walking, supporting Arashi with his shoulder still. Arashi lowly said "Tell me what you know, or I'll constantly harass you about the loud banging I heard against my wall from Kanon's room a couple weeks ago."

Kama coughed several times in embarrassment, his neck flushed. Arashi grinned in victory. "Fine," Kama said as they neared what Kama hoped was the way out, "Your fear is . . ."

They got to the tunnel bottom, but it looked partially constructed. There was a ladder resting against the wall, and Kama pointed up, motioning for Arashi to look up. As soon as he did, Kama said "fear of heights, sucker." Arashi paled, muttering "I'm so gonna kill you, I swear," under his breath.

The tunnel extended upward for what looked like several fozen feet, possibly a couple hundred feet or more. It was a wide tunnel with the metal collapsable ladder pointing straight up, the top half vanishing into the darkness. Arashi audibly gulped in fear.

Kama laughed loudly and said "You first, sir. Don't look down!" while waving his hands like a mansion's servant, gesturing to the ladder. Arashi grit his teeth, eye twitching, and climbed up. Kama told him "In all seriousness, don't worry. I'll catch you if you slip, nothing to be afraid of."

Arashi told Kama through gritted teeth "Shut . . . up . . . You're only making it worse!"

* * *

A worker at the Fenrir Far East Branch Den was whistling as he walked across the path from the elevator to the entrance from Aegis. He had his eyes closed, having been told never to look into the pit. He had, one time as a dare, and got so dizzy he nearly fell in.

Now, he carried a container of cores to ship them to Aegis. His walk was like any other, except for one thing.

_. . . thud . . ._

The man stopped, feeling the vibration under his feet. He put the container down, looking around.

_. . .Thud!_

He was sure he heard it that time; it sounded louder, closer! He gripped his wrench in front of him, glancing at the pit but not looking into it, and said "W-w-who's there?! I-I've got a weapon, and I know how to use it!" The guy didn't want to fight, he was just trying to earn money to support his family . . .

All kinds of thoughts wormed their way into the man's mind, deep in the Den with nothing but a thin walkway separating him from the pit. _There could be Aragami, or monsters! An Ouroboros tentacle could yank my feet from under me, a Quadriga could destroy my platform with a missile, a Sariel could fly up and grab me, taking me down to be killed and eaten, or-_

_**CRASH! **__Thud!_

The man made a high-pitched scream of terror as he whirled around, wrench held in front of him, as he watched the emergency maintenance ladder hatch crash open and two teenagers crawl out. The man, embarrassed by the unmanly noise he made, puffed his chest out and strode over to the boys.

"Where do you think you're going, you troublemakers?! You nearly gave me a heart attack, and I-" he stopped, noticing that both of them had God Arc weapons strapped to their backs. They climbed out, not even acknowledging the man, so he took a closer look.

"You two. . . What are your names?" the man asked. Just because they were Gods Eaters didn't mean they could go snooping around where they weren't allowed!

The teenager with black hair and a red jacket, with a weak voice, said "My name is Kama Kotaku, and he is Arashi Muramasa. He is wounded, can you please take us to Doctor Sakaki?" The man's eyes widened; these were the two Gods Eaters that were declared KIA after being gone for several days!

"How are you still alive? Your God Arc Biomonitor was lost over a day ago!" he asked, regurgitating information he heard from some of the officials. It sounded smart and informative, but he realized his attempts at sounding smart were ignored by the two boys, as the first one - Kama, he said he was - dragged the second boy, who was unconscious, to the elevator and pressed a button. The doors closed with a small _ding!_ as the elevator rose into the main facility.

The man stood there, dumbstruck, and shook his head to clear his thoughts. He walked over to the maintenance hatch, lightly kicked it closed, grabbed his container of Aragami cores, and continued on his way, whistling like he had been before stopping.

* * *

A/N: There you have it, i TOTALLY faked you guys out! *awkwardly laughs alone, stops with an annoyed facial expression* Laugh with me, damn it!

The area I described is, to my knowledge, completely original. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and my mind just pictured it extremely clearly, as if I was actually there. The moment reminded me of when I read the poem "Kubla Khan"

Although, I guess it's not entirely original since at first I was going to put something similar to Yellowstone Caverns. Then, as I wrote more and more, the area formed kind of like a Monster Hunter map, and I formed it around the theme of "underground caves" and "Snowy Mountain". I kinda like it :v

So, Kinaia seems to have control of her actions! I wonder what that means? What's this truth she was talking about, as well?

A personal thanks to HandsOffMyJello for his Aragami OC, Aron. This scene probably wouldn't have been thought up had you not given me that OC. I listed off quite a lot of details to my plot, and if anyone can figure out the ending within the next week (April 23, 2013 - April 30, 2013), I'll debate on making my own form of GE2, ignoring canon and making it personal!

The ending is still far off, but the sequel (if I decide this story is loved enough to push it a little further) will have to be a crossover between Monster Hunter and Gods Eater Burst. Just so my fans are aware and not floundering about, asking "Y U NO HAZ SEEKWIL YET?"

Cheers~


	19. Awkward Moments and Frosty the Aragami

Since our two male OCs just went through a harrowing adventure, I believe a slight change in the participants of the next couple missions is in order.

Enjoy~

* * *

Naoko was drinking a soda as she walked from her room to the elevator, ready to start another day. Yesterday, Sakaki had announced that the new leader and Arashi were KIA, but she didn't believe him. _With Kama's brain and Arashi's brawn, those two would never die,_ she adamantly told herself.

She took a sip, pushing the button for the elevator to go down. She watched the elevator floor indicator, wondering why it started from such a long way down. As it neared her floor, she shrugged, finishing her drink and moving to throw it away.

She turned back when she heard the elevator open with a slight creak, gasping when she saw two collapsed bodies in the small compartment. "Oh crap, are you alright? Where are you hurt?" she exclaimed as she checked them, not recognizing the first one but noticing the second resembled a bloody Kama.

The bloodied Kama lookalike said "We need help. Can you help me carry Arashi to the infirmary? He got electrocuted, and isn't running on his own energy for a long while." Naoko gasped, coming in and taking Arashi's other shoulder. _It __**was**__ Kama! They're alive!_

* * *

The elevator seemed to move too slowly, and Naoko turned to study the two bedraggled boys. Kama had been soaked in dark red blood at some point, and it dried before getting cleaned, his hair and clothes in bloody clumps. He moved fine, however, so she took a guess that none of it was his.

Arashi's skin was abnormally pale, almost blue. He shivered and sneezed, however, so she knew he was alive somehow. His hair was blackened at the ends, ash flying off every time Arashi shivered too hard. Naoko asked "What . . . happened to you two?"

Kama said "Arashi was thrown into the ocean and electrocuted, and," he paused due to a coughing fit, then continued, "and I lost my senses and took on four Vajra alone, then stayed out in the wild to search for Arashi." Naoko stared, awestruck, and focused when the elevator opened with little sound into the infirmary hallway.

Kanon was leaning against the wall, her face puffy from crying recently, and she turned to look at the new arrivals. She gasped, her eyes widening in shock, and dashed over to support Kama. She didn't ask any questions, but Naoko could see her face was full of confusion.

Now only supporting Arashi, she walked with Kanon and the two injured boys into the clinic and laid them on the bed. Kanon reached into her pocket to grab a communicator and flicked it on, saying "Sera, I need you in the clinic immediately. Drop what you're doing and get over here NOW!" before laying Kama on one of the beds.

Naoko laid Arashi on a second bed and stood back, suddenly afraid of Kanon. The girl was a whirlwind of action, hooking first Kama, then Arashi up to IV tubes and checking where the worst injuries were. Naoko heard the door open, and the whirlwind intensified as Sera walked in, saying "I came as quickly as i could, what's wrong?"

She spotted Arashi and her eyes widened, moving over to him and getting started. Naoko felt unneeded, and she quietly muttered "I'll . . . go tell Sakaki." before excusing herself out the door, unnoticed by the two focused medics.

She headed to the elevator again, thinking to herself. _I knew they weren't dead, but they definitely looked the part. I have to try my hardest while they are healing!_ She decided internally as she pressed the button to go to the executive floor.

* * *

She exited the elevator when it reached the executive plan, forgetting to knock as she walked in to Sakaki's room. In the second she had to observe the room, she saw Sakaki was on the phone with someone. She overheard a snippet of conversation: ". . . did you capture-", and then time caught up with her.

Sakaki paused, told the other person "I'll call you back, something just happened." Before hanging up and having a stern glare as he waited for Naoko to talk. She said "Arashi and Kama are at the Den, alive! They're in the infirmary for serious injuries right now, but they are both alive." She said in one breath, gasping dramatically when she was finished.

Sakaki's eyes widened, and he said "This is good news indeed! Please, tell me when they are recovered enough to speak. If the medics ask why, tell them I need to debrief them both as soon as possible." Naoko nodded her acknowledgement, and Sakaki told her "Now, please give me privacy. I need to finish my phone call that you interrupted." with another slight glare.

She grimaced and squeaked out a "Sorry!" as she turned around and rushed outside the door. _Guh, how could I be so rude?_

She sighed, massaging her temples with both hands as she headed up the elevator to the Lobby. She took a mission with Kama's team and headed down to storage to grab her weapon.

She had managed to upgrade her basic weapons with some heavy mission completing, material donations from her comrades, and a free shield Alisa had given her as a welcoming present. She now had the blade Flame Katana +, the shield Tear Stone, and was able to gather enough materials for a Silent Cry.

Now equipped with her God Arc, she met up with Sakuya, Soma, and Alisa and sat in the lobby, reviewing the information. Their target was a Prithvi Mata, and it was near some temples in the mountains. It was weak to fire-based attacks, so Naoko made sure to pack what she needed.

_It's the hardest mission I've had so far, and I'll finish it without fail,_ she promised herself. Kama and Arashi were out of commission for at least another week, so she needed to step up her skills.

Tsubaki stopped them on their way out to tell them "We've confirmed a signal from today's target. Apparently, it's coming from the previous leader's armlet." The group, minus Naoko, all got excited as she continued on. "Right now, we're investigating, but it will most likely be your opponent in today's mission."

"It will be a grueling fight, as well as a test of your abilities, but I'm confident you four can eliminate the threat." She eyed all four of them with a slight glare as she said "Don't get swayed by thoughts of vengeance. Make sure you advance with caution . . . understood?"

Naoko nodded for herself, and overheard Sakuya muttering "Lindow . . . finally, we found you." to herself. Naoko wondered who Lindow was. Despite hearing people call him the previous leader before Kama, she had no clue what the man looked like or how he acted.

She shrugged, putting it to the back of her mind for now. _There will be time to ask about it later,_ she thought as she walked with her team to the helipad and boarded the helicopter.

The target was quite a distance away, so she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, letting the thrum of the helicopter blades lull her into a nap.

* * *

She was awoken when someone shook her roughly, and she opened her eyes to see Soma with a scowl on his face. The others were on the ground, scouting the landing zone. Soma growled out "Get a move on, rookie. We don't have time to take naps."

Naoko grumbled as she got off the helicopter, stretching as she watched it fly to a safe zone nearby. She popped her back and sighed with relief, then headed to the others.

Sakuya said "Okay, from the paw prints in the snow, it looks like it passed by here not too long ago. If we hurry, we can catch up to it." She pointed to paw prints, leading in a straight line higher along the mountain. Naoko prepped her sword, holding it in front of her as they advanced.

After about ten minutes of running, they caught sight of it. Sakuya held her finger to her lip, signaling for silence, and motioned for Alisa and Naoko to sneak around it and catch it in a crossfire. She whispered to Soma "Try to sneak on the rooftops and get a surprise attack in. We might be able to finish this quickly."

He nodded, jogging to a nearby building and climbing the wall. Naoko watched him lightly run along the roofs, not making any noises audible over the blowing wind, and headed to the right as she was told.

She creeped along the cliff wall, staying out of sight of the Prithvi Mata as she headed to the ambush point. Inwardly, she decided to name it Frosty as she got a good look at it.

It resembled a Vajra, but instead of a yellow/brown color scheme, it was light blue and white. Its face looked vaguely like a female human's face; it even had ice crystals branching off from its head, resembling spiky hair.

It had a skeletal covering over its back, as well as a blue cape draped along its back. As it walked in the middle of the makeshift valley, Naoko saw ice crystals form in every pawprint it left.

When Naoko got to her chosen hiding spot, a large snow pile, she spotted Soma crouching on a tall building, directly parallel with Frosty's path, and looked under him to see Alisa hiding on the ground floor, waiting for the signal. A loud whistle was heard, and Naoko's pulse spiked. _That's the signal!_

Soma jumped from the rooftop he was crouching on, slamming his blade into Frosty's back and cutting a large gash along its flank. Alisa stood from where she was hiding inside the building and used a window sill to fire flame shots. Naoko stood from the snowdrift she was laying in and fired as well, pelting it with cluster shots.

It was a three-way crossfire, and Frosty came out of it looking cut up and hurt, but still able to fight. Naoko switched to her sword when its gaze locked on her. It roared, the snow around it rippling as ice shards fired at Naoko from its mouth.

She engaged her shield to block the ice shards, but she had to duck to avoid its lunge, Frosty's claws barely missing her head. She turned around and swung her blade like a baseball bat, the sharp edge cutting into the paw that tried to swipe her.

"It's fast!" she gasped out loud as it recovered quickly and fired several ice shards at her. She saw a flash of color in her peripheral vision and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the flame shots coming from behind her. "Watch where you're aiming!" she yelled at Sakuya, who continued firing at the beast.

Soma was on the rooftop directly above Frosty, trying to jump again for another heavy hit. The beast noticed him as he leaped, however, and reached up with its front legs to slam him against the wall. It pinned him with its paw, roaring in his face as it bared its teeth.

Naoko rushed forward and sliced deeply along the Achilles tendons of both of its back legs, rejoicing in its cry of pain and seeing it release Soma. He fell to the ground and quickly rolled to the side, narrowly missing being crushed by Frosty as it fell down.

Naoko switched to her gun and fired round after round into its body, only letting up when it stopped thrashing around, dead. She panted hard, sweat trickling down her neck as she stared at the bloody mess that used to be an Aragami.

Sakuya bandaged Soma's chest up, covering the long cuts the beast's claws had made. Soma nodded his thanks and walked up to the Aragami, his God Arc engaged to devour its core. He thrusted it into Frosty, and Naoko had to turn away from the scene, her stomach in knots.

She turned back when he was done, hearing Sakuya quietly ask "So? Find anything?" Soma sighed heavily, saying "No, nothing we wanted to find." Alisa scoffed, saying "These days, the research unit is so irresponsible!" Naoko tried to pacify her, saying "The right one could've ran off before we got here . . ."

A loud roar in the distance interrupted her. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, and they rushed to where it sounded like it came from. It was an open area with a mountain in front of them, a sharp drop-off next to a bridge on their left, and what could've been a pond on their right. They looked around until Alisa exclaimed "There! Up there!"

Naoko sharply looked toward the mountain and saw another Aragami. It looked like a Vajra as well, only its skin was black, and what little of the cape she could see was tan, almost golden. It had a face resembling a bearded old man, and she switched to her blade as it growled at the group, tensing its legs.

However, it only watched the group, growling the whole time. After a few moments, it turned away, moving out of sight and further along the mountain. Naoko sighed, grateful that she didn't have to fight so soon after the last one, and eased her tense stance.

Sakuya abruptly turned, saying "We need to head back. Let's go." Everyone headed back to the drop-off point to signal the helicopter, and they were all in the air and heading home within five minutes. Naoko rested her head again, thinking _I bet now is a good time to take a nap,_ as she felt herself drifting.

* * *

Kama was sitting on the hospital bed, stretching his arms. He wasn't nearly as hurt as everyone thought, and despite Kanon's protests was stretching his limbs. He could still hear her protests, though.

"You come in here soaked in blood, despite it not being yours, and you expect me to believe you're completely unharmed?" she demanded, her hands on her hips. Kama inwardly thought she looked cute when she was angry, but outwardly told her "Yes, I'm absolutely fine. Arashi is the one who nearly died, and I didn't even get a single major wound against the four Vajras."

Kanon glared at him, asking "So why did I have to help you limp in here with Naoko earlier today?" Kama told her "because I had gone almost two whole days without water or rest. I'm sorry for being too exhausted to walk properly, especially while carrying a wounded teammate." He understood that she was scared for him, but he even showed her he was fine!

Kanon was silent, facing away from him while she tidied up the area, throwing away bloody rags and used syringes. He suddenly got worried; she was only truly scary when she was silent. He waited with bated breath as he watched her stop moving, her hands clenched into fists as the leaned against the counter.

She finally turned to face him, and he saw tears in her eyes as she said "Sakaki told the Den that both yours and Arashi's biomonitors deactivated." She sniffed, and rubbed her eyes with her arm as she quietly finished with "He told us all . . . you were dead . . . How am I supposed to feel, knowing that and hearing you say you're fine?"

Kama stood from his bed and crossed the room, giving her a comforting hug. If there was one thing he hated, it was being the cause of any girl crying. "It's alright, I'm sorry for making you worry, honest . . ." he murmured quietly, trying to calm her down.

It worked, to a degree; she stopped crying and held onto him tightly, burying her face into his chest. He rested his head on her hair, and they stayed like that until Arashi grumpily said "Alright, alright, enough PDA. You're making me nauseous, Casanova."

Kama turned to glare at him, but eased up when he saw just how badly Arashi was messed up. There were IV packs hooked to his arms, his hair was torched, and his skin was so pale, he could've been mistaken for an albino. His face was in a scowl, but he still looked groggy. "Alright, grandpa, we won't show affection around you. Cool your jets." He told him, releasing Kanon.

Lucky he did just then, because Sera opened the door immediately after, holding two bowls of soup broth in her hands. She paused at the doorway, seeing Kama out of bed, and put down the dishes before asking "What the hell are you doing out of bed so soon?!" with narrowed eyes.

Kama held his hands up in a 'Don't hurt me' position, hands held in front of him as he said "I'm not injured! It was Arashi that needed medical aid, I was just tired!" Sera huffed and said "And does Kanon agree?" Kanon looked away, nodding.

Sera got a slight twitch in her right eye, which Kama had witnessed enough in the battlefield to know that she was planning how to make her target's life hell. Arashi, bless his soul, interrupted the moment by comically announcing in a half-asleep slur "If he doesn't want his soup, I'd be _happy_ to take it!" with his arm straight up, index finger lazily pointing toward the ceiling.

Kama's lips tightened in an attempt not to smile as Sera sighed, saying "Both of you are hopeless. Do you want your soup, or do you think you can eat solid food, Kama?" He let out a slight chuckle as he told her "No no, give it to Arashi. I think he needs it more, plus I need to go report to Sakaki."

She shrugged, saying "suit yourself", and picked up the dishes to go over to Arashi. He slurred out "I think it would be _**wonderful**_ if you could help me eat . . ." Kama half laughed, half choked at that statement, and whispered to Kanon "This room has a recording system, right? I want this video."

She shook her head at him, a small grin on her face, and led him out of the room. She closed the door and guiltily told him "It doesn't really help matters that I gave him morphine right before you woke up. He isn't completely aware right now, to be honest." Kama belted out a loud laugh, and told her "Then I **definitely** want this video!"

She shook her head, a wide grin on her face, and said "Get out of here, you. Even though you have no external injuries, you said you fell at least 50 feet and landed into a large snow pile, right? That means you could've had any number of internal injuries that we missed. Take it slow, and don't rush out on a mission immediately. Alright?" Kama nodded, his expression serious.

"I'll be by your room tonight; I gotta thank you for the blanket from earlier." He said with a wink. Kanon laughed, waving goodbye as she headed back into the hospital room. A loud squawk, the sounds of things crashing in the room, and Kama debated going inside to check. He decided against it, deciding to check out the recordings on his terminal.

Ah, the privileges of being Leader.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so this was half serious and half not. If no one guessed it, yes. I'm doing a pairing for Kama/Kanon. Gosh, Kama has such a mean sense of humor (Like a certain human who created him...)! Also, what was Sakaki mentioning on the phone, I wonder…?

Cheers~


	20. Defense

The next morning, Kama woke up to a surprising scene. He was with Kanon on her couch, feeling her leaning beside Kama as he was sitting on it. He vaguely remembered Kanon and him talking about many different topics but couldn't for the life of him remember when he fell asleep.

_Although,_ he thought, noticing both of them fully clothed, _we probably just had dinner together, or something._ He stretched his arms behind his head, accidentally waking Kanon up.

She yawned, rubbing her eyes with her head down. She blinked a few times while sitting, not having noticed Kama yet.

"Rise and shine, beautiful." He announced, watching her spin around, seeing him with his hands folded around the back of his neck. She punched his shoulder for startling her and stood up, taking her own time to stretch. When she was done, she asked "So why did I wake up to see your hairy muzzle in my room?"

Kama rubbed his hand along his chin, noticing the stubble for the first time. "Just admiring the view, that's all." he said, grinning at her. She frowned, still embarrassed – if the blush was a good judge, Kama thought – and sighed before pointing to her door.

"Ha ha. Now get your mind out of the gutter, and get your fat ass off my couch." She ordered. Kama laughed harder and stood up, popping his back as he did so. "I need to get you softer cushions. I still think there are rocks in there." Kanon sighed again, quietly muttering "idiot" to herself.

He was pushed out by a slightly grinning Kanon, with her saying "I need my privacy if I'm going to be ready for the day, so shoo!" Kama still laughed, albeit quietly now that he was in the hallway, and said "I'm gonna see if there's a decent mission to take on. Want to come with?"

She said "sure, just let me get my morning ritual out of the way first!" behind a closed door, and Kama walked to the emergency stairwell, preferring to walk down the stairs rather than take the elevator.

* * *

He was in a very good mood, and he was practically beaming as he reached the lobby. He looked around, spotting Sakuya, Kota, Alisa, and Soma in different areas, each doing their own thing.

He looked downstairs to see Gina and Brendan talking in low whispers, and Kama got slightly curious. He walked to the second floor railing and stood over the group, eavesdropping.

Gina was saying "I wonder what got into her. She's totally different recently, and in a good way."

Brendan agreed, saying "Yeah, she's been less irritable, and she even shoots me less and less often. I kinda like the improvement!"

Kama grinned, knowing they were talking about Kanon, and was about to turn around until a surprise slap on the back pushed his torso over the second floor railing. He felt himself tipping further and further over the railing, unable to stop the momentum.

Time seemed to slow down as he felt himself tip over the side, and he heard someone yell "Timber!" as he closed his eyes and braced himself with his arms. _Oh god why-_

An avalanche of noise, several short screams, and a loud feminine "Oh, shit!" later, and Kama found himself on top of an oddly lumpy floor, papers haphazardly strewn on the floor and on himself. He noticed he was behind Hibari's desk with Hibari nowhere in sight, until the lumpy floor started moving around frantically.

"Get off, I can't breathe!" a muffled voice under him cried out, and he absently noticed Tatsumi yelling at someone upstairs as Kama quickly got up and helped Hibari to her feet.

"Sorry, I swear it wasn't my fault . . ." Kama rubbed the back of his neck as he apologized to an irate Hibari. She sighed and shook her head, saying "No, its fine. I should expect this sort of mayhem this early in the morning."

Kama laughed nervously, hopping over the desk and giving Hibari extra space. His good mood was still intact, if a little fractured. He apologized again, and asked a little hesitantly "Could I . . . look at the missions?"

Hibari smiled and said "I'm not mad, you know. Tatsumi is clear headed enough to know who's at fault. He's not yelling at you, so you're safe. Here you go!" she quickly turned into her usual cheerful self as she gave Kama the day's list of missions.

"Hrmm . . . This one looks good." Kama pointed to one. It was a mission in a recently-overrun aircraft carrier near the almost-landlocked Sea of Japan. The targets were an arctic Kongou, a magmatic Borg Camlann, and a New-Type arctic Quadriga, all in the same area.

He glanced around the room, trying to decide who to take with him. He guessed Naoko was the prankster – Tatsumi was lecturing her on the importance of where to make a joke, when to make a joke, and how the joke could possibly end up hurting someone – so decided to leave her behind.

If she wasn't focused during the mission, someone might get hurt. He wouldn't take any chances with a Quadriga around. With her off of his list, he ran through a list of names in his head and decided on his team. "Kota, Soma, Gina, on me. We got ourselves a mission."

As they headed to the gate, a loud blaring alarm sounded out. Brendan and Tatsumi immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed to storage, but Kama stopped them to ask "What's going on? I've never heard that alarm before."

"The Outer Ghetto's been invaded by Aragami again! You guys go take care of your mission, leave the defense to us!" Brendan said, pushing past Kama to grab his weapon.

Kama's gaze darkened, and he told his group "Change of plans. Take Alisa with you and head out without me, I'm staying behind to assist the Defense force."

Alisa and Soma tried to argue with him, but Kota nodded, saying "We'll get the job done. Don't let anything bad happen while we're gone." Kama nodded, yelling at Hibari "Take me off the mission roster! I'm aiding the defense!"

Kama and Kota nodded at each other, saying "Good luck" to one another, and the mission group took the elevator down to storage. Kama ran to the storage by taking the stairs downward three steps at a time, a certain memory of his replaying like a broken record in his mind.

_Not this time, Aragami. Not on my watch._ He would see to it that the civilians were unharmed, and he would prevent as many deaths as he could.

* * *

He reached the storage before the others, ran to his blade and yanked it off of the machinery, and dashed back up the stairs two steps at a time without speaking to Licca or waiting for the elevator to touch down.

He left the main entrance of the Den, wondering how long it had been since he was in the Outer Ghetto for anything other than patrolling or passing through for a mission. He located the invasion point, where a few Kongous, several Ogretails, and a Quadriga were being pushed back to the wall by God Eaters.

Kama ran to where he remembered Kota's family lived, though he had never seen them in pictures or person. He noticed a trail of destruction around him as he got closer.

The further he jogged, the more corpses he saw on the floor as well as God Arc weapons lying around some of them. He kept his gaze straight ahead, not wanting to look closer and possibly recognize one of the unmoving bodies.

He glanced back at the invasion hole; all of the Kongou were dead, and the Quadriga was on the ropes. Some of the Ogretail were missing and not dead on the ground, and that spelt trouble.

Kama nodded to himself and kept running to his earlier destination. A loud explosion in another section of the wall startled him, but he kept running, finally entering the area he remembered Kota's family living in. First thing's first: he would try to assure his friend's family's safety before aiding the others.

He spotted a likely area; a cul-de-sac near the south-western side of the anti-Aragami Wall. The housing area was almost entirely intact, no corpses visible on the outside.

He ran to the first one and entered, but found no one inside. Slightly panicking, he exited and entered the second, only to find bloodied corpses, an Ogretail licking its blood-stained teeth, and a little girl who was cornered against the wall, her arms covering her eyes in terror.

The Ogretail roared and prepared to spring, but Kama beat it to the punch. As it crouched, Kama made a wide sweep with the blunt side of his chainsaw, throwing the Ogretail through a doorway and crashing against one of the beds.

It landed on its side, trying to get up, but Kama slashed with rage and sliced it in half with one cut. It never even made a sound as it died instantly. He wiped his blade off as best as he could on the fur of the Ogretail, and entered the first room, ignoring his bloodied clothes as he walked toward the child.

The girl was still in the corner of the room, her hands pressed against her face as she cried. There were two bodies on the ground, both somewhat-adult sized, and Kama had a really bad feeling of what happened. He walked across the room and crouched on his knee, checking her for injuries.

Seeing none, he sighed in relief, then asked in a gentle voice "What's your name, child? Where are your parents?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up. She couldn't have been older than 10 years old.

She was wearing a tan colored hand-knit wool sweater that looked too big for her, as well as a brown skirt and pink sandals. She had short red hair and brown eyes. She looked somewhat similar to someone Kama knew, but he couldn't put a finger on who.

She said in a shaky voice "M-my name is Nozomi . . . Are you a God Eater?" He nodded, and her demeanor changed instantly from wary and crouching in the corner to completely trusting, gripping his chest in a stranglehold.

Kama stood up, putting Nozomi on his shoulders and walking away from the carnage inside the house. They headed farther into the housing area and away from the hole in the anti-Aragami wall.

* * *

"Were those . . . your parents, Nozomi?" Kama reluctantly asked, in case they were. To his momentary relief, she shook her head, her face downcast as she told him "They were my mommy's friends. They lost their son a few months ago, in an Aragami attack."

Kama reached behind her back to pat it reassuringly, and said "Well, think of me as your knight in shining armor. Nothing is going to hurt you on my watch!" he declared, adding a boisterous laugh at the end of his speech. He got his desired effect, as Nozomi was giggling on his back.

He walked on, aware that the Defense unit was fighting but determined to safely lead Nozomi home, and asked her "So where do you live, Nozomi? We have to get you home safe and sound before I go help the others."

She pointed in a direction, and Kama followed her finger to a house with two women outside, pacing and looking all around the area for something.

The first had long red hair, similar to Nozomi's hair. Her orange shirt was haphazard, her brown pants messy, and her eyes glittered with panic; even in the distance, Kama could tell she was distraught.

The second was far calmer than the first, and Kama could see her mouth moving while she faced the first woman, probably calming her down. Her hand was on the first woman's shoulder as she faced her, but Kama couldn't hear what she said.

She had long blue hair, a black blouse, and a white skirt that reached to her knees. She wasn't striking or different in a noticeable way, but something about her drew Kama to keep looking. He recognized her, somehow.

Nozomi interrupted his thoughts, yelling "Mommy! Over here!" while waving her arms above her head, trying to get someone's attention. The first woman jerked her head up, stared at Kama and Nozomi, and then ran over to them, scooping Nozomi off of Kama's back and into her arms, crushing Nozomi in a vicegrip.

"Where have you been?! I've been worried sick!" she nearly yelled, still hugging her daughter tightly. Kama spoke up and said "I found her in a compromised house, with two adult corpses. Nozomi said you knew them well."

The woman looked at Kama, spotted his God Arc hanging on a makeshift holder on the lower part of his jacket, and nodded, thanking him wholeheartedly. She said with tears in her eyes "My name is Isami Fujiki. Thank you for saving my daughter . . . What is your name?"

He said "My name is Kama Kotaku, ma'am. I'd do the same for anyone, as long as I can help." She perked her ears, as well as the second woman, who had walked over to the others. Isami exclaimed "My son has mentioned you frequently! Do you know Kota Fujiki?"

Kama's eyes widened. This was Kota's mom and daughter! _No wonder Nozomi looked familiar; Kota has the exact same hairstyle, only a shade lighter!_ he thought to himself as he made a smile for her benefit.

"Yes ma'am, I do. He's definitely a reliable guy, if a bit immature." He smiled a little more, remembering his first day in the Den.

The second woman spoke up, with a hauntingly familiar low toned voice, "Young man, my name is Rachel. I couldn't help but overhear your name, and I have to ask; my daughter also mentioned you, while she was still alive. Did you know Kinaia Tsumi?"

Kama's smile slowly vanished as took a deep breath, replying "Yes, ma'am, I knew her. I wish I could've done something to save her." The woman had a calm look in her green eyes, as if she had long accepted the death of her child, and nodded to show she understood.

They heard a distant explosion, quieter than the one he heard when he saved Nozomi but louder than the first break-in, and Kama snapped his gaze to the general direction. _That sounded closer to this area,_ he worriedly thought. He turned back to the trio with a hard, professional face.

His voice was a lot more authoritative when he said "Get inside, stay hidden until the all-clear is given. I have to help my comrades now." They nodded, and his voice softened slightly as he added "Nozomi, don't stray from your mother's side until all the monsters are gone, okay?"

She nodded, scared again, and Kama drew his Primeval Growl as he turned and started jogging to the new gaping hole in the wall, startling the adults with the blade that was already bloodstained. He craned his head to stare at the adults as he shifted from a jog to a sprint.

"Go! I have to go now, and I can't guarantee your safety if you aren't hidden!" he yelled, sprinting to the insertion point. He couldn't make sure they hid well enough because he reached the secondary line of defense, already in sight of the invading Aragami.

A couple of Sariels and a Borg Camlann broke through the wall, but the Defense unit's line had already moved there. One of the Sariels broke through the line, skimming the ground, and Kama heard Brendan yell "Someone stop that Sariel from hitting the homes!"

No one else was close enough, so Kama jumped onto a barrel next to a partially-destroyed house, climbed onto the roof, and timed his jump so he landed on top of the Sariel, his blade digging deep and wounding it enough to let him deal the finishing stab.

Kama yelled "Sariel eliminated!" to Brendan, who was surprised to see Kama here and not on the mission. Brendan snapped out of it and nodded, then yelled "Come help us finish these things off!"

Kama ran to the line and saw that only Brendan and Karel remained, the others having been either killed or incapacitated. Kama reached the two, raising his blade as he grimly said "Let's hope this is the last wave," as a mixed wave of Ogretails and two Kongous approached the hole.

Karel chuckled without humor, muttering "I'd make a toast to that," while loading his gun and eating a Blood Plasma pill. Brendan bandaged a wound on his good arm, nodding and declaring with steel in his voice, "Here they come!" as the Aragami crossed through the hole.

Kama dashed in, spinning with his blade out as well as cutting side to side in an attempt to thin the wave out. He managed to wound one of the Kongous as well as kill a few of the Ogretails and wound a few more.

Then they started hitting back, and Kama had to keep dodging side to side as the Kongous fired air blast after air blast at him. Kama swore as one of the blasts hit too close to him, throwing him to the ground. He was saved from an Ogretail when Karen shot it out of the air, mid-leap, but nothing stopped the Kongou that shot him.

The offending Kongou pounced on him, grinning with a long row of razor-sharp teeth, and Kama grinned widely right back, yelling "Who's eating who, monster?!" as he jammed his chainsaw in the Kongou's wide mouth. It died quickly, and Kama realized that his plan was a bad one when the dead body fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

He tried rolling the tub of lard off of him, but he had a bad angle and couldn't get a good grip. He watched with anger as the last Kongou battled the other two, unable to even bring out his gun and watching Karel as he took an air blast to the stomach. He flew into a partially-destroyed building, the ceiling collapsing on top of him.

Brendan killed the last Kongou without any more difficulties, though, and helped Kama push the dead Kongou off of him, lending him a hand to help him up.

Kama gasped "Thanks for the help", finally able to breathe with the dead weight off of his chest. Brendan nodded, and they both went to the collapsed building to retrieve Karel.

Turns out, Karel managed to avoid the worst of the debris and limped out under his own steam, swearing up a storm that he, of all people, was thrown into a building.

Kama laughed to himself; lots of things today made him remember the past. The Aragami invasion similar to his old Den's, Kinaia's mother, Karel's injury, the dead family . . .

_Perhaps something important is going to happen soon. Too many coincidences to believe they're coincidences anymore._ He stopped thinking, entering the Den and calling out the All Clear.

The God Eaters in reserve will be sent out to rescue unconscious God Eaters, salvage the God Arcs of the dead, there would be a burial detail, not to mention they had to dig through every destroyed home in case a civilian was trapped under rubble, unable to move but alive . . .

At least there were people to save, this time. That's always a bright side, even when it's only a lighter shade of black than the darkness that stalks everyone at any given moment.

* * *

After every God Eater on duty and civilian had been accounted for, both the living and the dead, there were a total of 6 Gods Eaters KIA and 24 civilians KIA. Kama walked back into the Den, feeling both proud and saddened by the mixed results.

He help the rescue efforts along until the group Kama had sent out on a mission beforehand returned with the cores, stopped at the gate by all the activity going on.

Kota went straight to Kama and Tatsumi, who were looking over the list of what supplies were needed to repair the wall, homes, and pathways, and asked "So how'd it go?"

Tatsumi glanced at Kama before saying "There was a massive loss of infrastructure and quite a few deaths, but we repelled the Aragami forces before they could get too deeply into the Ghetto."

Tatsumi looked down, sighing, and Kama took up the explanation. "We lost half a dozen God Eaters, as well as two dozen civilians. Though, more would have been lost if we hadn't acted so fast."

Tatsumi continued on from that, saying "Well, at least it was only sector E26. Lots of homes were hit, but they can be fixed."

Kota sharply inhaled, and his voice cracked when he clarified "E26?!" Kama nodded, and Kota rushed past them, heading to the Outer Ghetto. Tatsumi looked guilty, and he told Kama "Damn, I forgot. Kota's family lived on the outskirts of E26, near the wall. I hope they're okay."

Kama nodded, keeping the fact that he saved Kota's sister to himself. He went in the elevator to report to Sakaki and paid a visit to the rookie hallway an hour later to see Kota's door partially open.

* * *

Kama peeked inside and saw Kota sitting on his bed with his head on his hands. He knocked to get his attention and asked "Mind if I come in?"

When Kota shook his head, Kama walked in and leaned against the drawer, his arms crossed while he thought of how to start the conversation while he observed Kota taking deep breaths, his face still angled down and his arms braced on his legs.

Kota beat him to the punch by saying "Nozomi told me that a God Eater named Kama Kotaku saved her from an Ogretail." Kota glanced up at Kama and said "Thanks a lot. It really means a lot to me, to be able to know my friend saved my little sis." Kama nodded and told him "Anything for a good friend."

Kota grinned slightly, saying "Nozomi was pretty much gawking at how you took down the Ogretail. Mom and Mrs. Tsumi were also impressed with how you acted. Though, I wish she didn't have to see the Nordberg's die . . ." he gazed forlornly at a random spot on the dirty carpet.

Kama muttered "I just wish we could live safely, to where kids don't need to live in fear. Monsters should only exist in the closet and under the bed, and only be in their mind." Kama said quietly. "No child should have to grow up in conditions like this."

Kota nodded, agreeing, before saying "The Aegis Project . . . I'd do anything to help its progress along. I'd do anything to guarantee my family's safety, even by sacrificing my own." Kama nodded, understanding, before trying to lighten up the mood.

He raided Kota's fridge, looking for the soda stash he knew Kota had hidden. Kota didn't pay attention until Kama tossed a can of Cola into his lap, where he glanced up at Kama with his mouth wide open in indignation.

Kama smirked, holding a root beer in his hands, and said "Lighten up a bit. Your family is safe, the wall is being patched up, and we're going to hunt Aragami until it's fully repaired."

Kama took a large gulp of his pilfered drink, and watched as Kota slowly made a grin and popped his own drink, taking a swig of the sugary drink. Kama asked "So, I managed to witness something hilarious in the hospital room; want me to play the recording?"

Kota laughed, mostly back to his normal self, and said "Hell, yeah! Pop that vid in!" as he used his password to turn his terminal on. Kama used a secondary log-in to give Kota's account temporary clearance to the video, and hit play . . .

The sound of loud laughter woke up many of the Gods Eaters on their floor, as well as the ones on the floor above them.

* * *

A/N: Alright, I'm going to start a sub-story for this fanfiction. It will consist entirely of outtakes that I felt would be funny, scenes my viewers want to see elaborated, and outtakes of a sort. It will be up shortly, and I'll label where it originated from.

Also, on an unrelated – but equally important – note…

Happy late birthday, patty1234554321! Hope this and the other submitted chapter in my new story are good presents ._.

Cheers~


	21. Premonitions

Kama was awoken by a nightmare a month after the Den was attacked. It was vague, already vanishing from his memory, but the most vivid part - which had awoken him - was a loud, feral scream.

He laid in his bed for a moment, trying to remember what the dream was about, but it dissipated like fog on a hot summer's day. He sighed, turning on his bedside lamp to shatter the darkness, and sat up to get his abnormally early day started.

He got dressed, took a shower, took care of all the things he did every morning, and checked out his terminal. He gawked when he noticed the time. **2:38 am**?!

Exasperated, Kama went out regardless. He walked down the stairs, avoiding the noisy elevator for now, and came into the lobby. When he got there, however, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

Arashi, now recovered from his near-death experience, sat on the couch looking unusually subdued. He was wearing black sweatpants and a black tanktop, having not dressed in casual clothes yet. He rubbed his eyes, yawning as he sprawled out on the cushions.

Sera, dressed in white pajamas with ducks stitched into the material, paced up and down the stairs. She seemed aggravated for some reason, unable to keep still.

Naoko was also downstairs, lazily scanning one of the terminals while rubbing her eyes. She had her usual clothes on, but they looked wrinkled and ragged, as if she had slept in them last night.

No one else, not even Hibari, was up this early. To add to Kama's confusion, Arashi was a late sleeper, usually getting up around noon daily. He was about to ask why they were down here, but Sera spotted him while she was walking up the short staircase and paused, asking "Kama? Is that you?"

He nodded, yawning after he said "Yeah, it's me." Arashi perked up, getting a slight bit of energy as he noticed Kama a half second after Sera did. Naoko turned around to face Kama, her arms resting on the sides of the terminal as she asked "Did you have a dream, too?"

Kama's eyes widened, nodding slightly and saying "I remember bits and pieces, but the most I remember is a loud scream. It woke me up at this god-awful hour." Sera gasped, exclaiming quietly "A dream, and a loud scream? That sounds like what woke me up, too!"

Arashi nodded, his voice low as he said "So we all have the same dream, wake up from it, and decide to come down here. Could it mean something?"

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Kama suggested "Could we have resonated, somehow? We are all New-Types, after all." Sera tilted her head to the side, thinking to herself. She answered "Well, it could be. I thought resonance could only be initiated by touch, though."

Kama shrugged, saying "Just throwing it out there. Although, resonance is a fairly new line of research; who's to say it can't happen over a distance?" Sera and Arashi nodded, agreeing.

Naoko spoke up, asking "Isn't resonance usually based on memories? I've never heard a scream quite like that. How about you guys?"

All three shook their heads, having heard various screams in their lifetime, but none matching the one in the dream.

Arashi stretched his back, getting up from the couch while announcing "Well, I'm going back to bed now. I plan on helping Licca repair my God Arc tomorrow, and I can't do that if my hands don't cooperate with my brain. G'night, guys."

He walked upstairs, Naoko doing the same shortly afterwards. Sera stayed where she was, though, and asked "What if we resonated with someone else, someone that did hear the scream?" Kama shrugged, not able to give a proper answer. It wasn't Alisa, because he already resonated with her. No other Far East Gods Eaters were New-Types, so who else could it have been?

He realized, with his thoughts racing like this, he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep and said "Sera, I'm feeling restless. Want to go on a quick mission?"

Sera shook her head, saying "Not everyone has your insane stamina, Kama. I'll see you in the morning." She paused at the foot of the floor stairway, turning back to say "If you still decide to go outside alone, don't take risks. We don't need you injured so close to the Aegis Project being completed."

Kama nodded, heading to the stairs to go to the God Arc storage, and they split up as they walked. Kama moved downstairs, wondering again why the storage was so deep underground. However, as he got halfway down the stairs he felt a pulse on his mind, like someone dropped a rock in a pool and the ripples reached him.

He stopped, curious, and waited for it to happen again. After five minutes of waiting, he shrugged and continued on. _Maybe an echo of the dream,_ he thought.

He reached the floor and raised the platform for his weapon. Grabbing it, he noticed it had a little bit of wear and tear. He'd need to talk to Licca about that soon.

* * *

Heading outside, the sky was still dark and the night breeze felt refreshing. He started jogging, heading subconsciously in a random direction. He felt like he walked this path recently, though he hadn't been to the City of Mercy in a very long time.

As he reached the forsaken city, he walked around and imagined what the city had looked like before the Aragami arrived. It seemed like it would be a lively place; there were barely-recognizable kiosks, many buildings that looked like they were once stores, and a once-beautiful fountain in a plaza, now cracked and drained of water.

Kama walked further, something tugging him along. He felt like he could resist if he wanted, but the tug was natural. He walked until he reached the church, moving inside and slightly tensing his blade arm just in case he wasn't alone.

When he was inside, he spotted a little girl dressed in what looked like a dirty and torn Fenrir flag. He dashed to her, crouching and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Miss, are you alright?" Kama asked, feeling a deja-vu moment.

The girl turned around to stare at Kama, her head tilted. She had amber-colored eyes, skin so pale it almost looked bleached, and white hair that almost looked plastic. She wasn't talking, so Kama tried again, "Are you alright? Can you speak?"

She blinked slowly, still silent, and Kama felt his mind going blank as he stared into her eyes. His limbs relaxed against his will, and he heard a feminine voice echo from everywhere and nowhere at once. _**You have come, Fragment of Will. I have found you, at last.**_

* * *

Kama found himself on the ground and blinked, shaking his head to clear it. As he stood up, he noticed the girl had left without him noticing, his mind having been in a trance for a long time. As he walked out of the church, he was blinded by the sudden glare of the sun.

He looked straight up in shock, seeing the sun so far in the sky. _How long was I out?_ he mentally questioned, feeling more than a little freaked out by the situation. _Voices in his head? Fragment of . . . Will?_

He stopped thinking, hearing voices he recognized calling his name. He lowered his head and looked around, spotting Sera, Arashi, and Naoko running towards him. Arashi reached him first, slapping the back of Kama's head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kama demanded, holding the back of his head with a hand. Arashi glared at Kama and said "That was for being out for over ten hours. It's almost noon, the whole den is in an uproar trying to find you, and here you are staring at the sun?!"

Kama began rubbing the back of his head, pain forgotten and embarrassment starting to flood him. "I didn't realize I was out so long. It feels like I've only been here an hour, if that."

Arashi narrowed his eyes, then turned away and scoffed. Sera glared at Kama, saying "So, why are you so fond of getting in the hospital? Because if you don't snap out of it and help us in our mission, I'm ordering you to take mandatory bedrest for the next month!"

Kama glared back in exasperation, unable to explain why he suddenly spaced out for almost half a day. He exclaimed "Alright, alright, what's the stupid mission?"

Naoko, being the only one not angry at Kama, told him "We were sent to kill a Tigrex. You ready to come with?" Then she grinned suggestively as she continued "Or do you want bedrest with the lovely Kanon Daiba?"

Kama straightened his mouth, trying his best to fight back the flush around his neck. He drew his chainsaw from the jacket holster he had, nodding.

They all split up, covering more area and staying within calling distance of eachother.

Though, they didn't need to wait long, as Naoko's piercing scream echoed through the empty city. Kama twisted around, running the way Naoko went and praying she had enough sense to wait for backup . . .

He dashed around a corner, seeing Naoko twist out of the way of a chunk of rock the Tigrex had shoved with its front paw. She then ducked when the Tigrex leaped at her, missing by inches, and turned toward the Tigrex with her shield engaged to block a tail swipe.

Kama rushed in, admiring her bravery to dance with the beast but not wanting to risk her life fighting alone. He dashed in, delivering a side slash to its hind leg and cutting through its hide easily. The Tigrex roared, sweeping the ground with its tail a second time and managing to get a direct hit on both Kama and Naoko.

Kama had gotten lucky; he had his lucky jacket closed, the oracle-infused cloth tougher than iron and blocking the attack. Naoko . . . not so much, in an unexpected way.

* * *

The spiked tail hit her chest and clawed her shirt to shreds. Although, to Kama's and Naoko's embarrassment, it also tore and revealed the so-pink-it-hurts bra she had on underneath her shirt. Both were silent, the situation too ridiculous to be real, until . . .

"Perverted fucking Aragami!" She screeched, her eyes filled with rage, and Kama switched to gun to provide support to the force of nature known as Naoko Fukui. She held her own extremely well, ducking and weaving while targeting pieces of exposed Tigrex hide.

She was forced to cancel her barrage when the Tigrex's veins glowed a bright red and it propped itself up, taking a deep breath. "Cover your ears, now!" Kama yelled, and Naoko clapped her hands over her ears just as the Tigrex let loose an ear-piercing roar of rage.

At that moment, several bullets came from a nearby rooftop as well as from behind a car, and the Tigrex had to cut its roar off early. It backhanded Naoko as it charged toward Kama, her body colliding with the damaged husk of a car and her yelling in pain.

Kama grit his teeth and engaged his shield, bracing for the impact. The Tigrex collided against Kama with the speed of a freight train, lifting him off his feet and through the window of the grocery store behind him.

_Shield be damned, that __**hurt!**_ He groaned in pain, having slid across several shards of glass. His torso was spared because of his jacket, but the glass cut fiery trails across his thighs and legs. He came to a sudden stop against what used to be a vending machine, watching the Tigrex fight Naoko and Arashi.

Kama slowly stood up, the backs of his legs a bleeding mess, and wrapped them with bandages. He would need to stop by the hospital in the den to take out all the fragments of glass lodged in the meat of his thighs, but the bandage and a Blood Plasma pill should be enough for now.

As he climbed back through the window he shattered, he saw the Tigrex knock Arashi down and bite into his leg, ripping a scream of agony from his throat as the teeth bit harder into his leg. Kama feared the worst, being too far away to do anything, but Sera had him covered.

Several sniper shots directed at the Tigrex's head moments after biting punctured one of its eyes and made his skull armor look like Swiss cheese. It released Arashi's leg with a screech of pain, flailing its head around as it tried to find Sera with one remaining eye.

Kama yelled at Naoko "Quick, while he's hurt and blinded! Attack him while I check on Arashi!" She nodded and moved in, hacking and slashing at the Tigrex's forelegs. Kama used the distraction to check on Arashi.

He was clenching his teeth in pain while he bandaged the leg, letting out a shaky "I'm fine, hurry up and end the fight already!" when Kama tried to get a closer look. Arashi finished the bandaging with a yank to tighten the bandage, letting out a deep breath when he was done.

Kama saw him limp inside one of the buildings, and turned back to the Tigrex, murder in his heart. The beast had lost its second eye during the distraction and was now flailing everything it had, trying to hit an enemy it can't see.

It gnashed its teeth, leaped and bucked like a mad bull, using its tail and claws to hit as many places as possible. Naoko stayed out of its path, adding her gunfire with Sera's sniping.

Kama switched to his gun as well, and with the combined effort of all three managed to get the Tigrex to make one last, weak whine, before it collapsed on the ground. Kama and Naoko cheered, Kama's voice faltering when Naoko pumped her fists in the air, making the rip in her shirt bigger.

He turned abruptly, forcefully pushing the mental image out of his head as he went to retrieve Arashi. In his absence, he managed to make a splint around his leg, as well as carve a walking stick out of a nearby plank.

When the two men emerged, Sera was downstairs, her jacket missing with a cotton undershirt in its place. Naoko was wearing the jacket closed, a large blush on her face as she gripped it tight around her chest.

Kama started laughing uncontrollably, not even pausing to answer when Arashi asked what the problem was or when Sera rolled her eyes, leading Naoko back to the helicopter while shaking her head. He just found it so ironically funny. He finally stopped laughing when Arashi tried to limp onward by himself, falling on the ground without stable support.

Kama held onto his shoulder and led him to the helicopter, preferring to look outside as the helicopter flew over the cracked landscape and ignore the three glares directed at him.

* * *

The girl paused on her perch, watching the flying contraption go farther and farther into the distance. She had finally located the third piece, and she hadn't even been trying this time.

_**Fragments of Will, Wrath, and Truth . . . I shall connect the dots, and bring about salvation. All in due time . . .**_

Her . . . It's . . . companion, a humanoid black-furred Aragami, walked towards the girl and asked in a deep, female voice "**Have we found it? Before the humans, even?**" It had a humanoid face, as well as feline attributes mixed in.

It's entire body was covered in hair, it had a humanoid leg and arm structure with feline hands and feet, and a long, thin tail topped with a spike swished back and forth across the dust, leaving trails.

At the first being's nod to her question, the second being grinned widely, razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. "**So your vision was correct, Singularity?**" it asked, a hint of excitement showing as it quickened the motion of its tail waving back and forth, leaving slight gouges in the stone below them.

_**Indeed . . . I must complete my part, as well. **_The little girl glanced at the other Aragami, telepathically continuing _**You know what to do, Fragment of Wrath. You have your duty, as well as vengeance.**_

The beast's lips peeled back, revealing her teeth again as she growled "_**They murdered Nightshade to experiment on me. I will honor her for showing me the truth, and repay her killers back tenfold, with the blessing of Nova.**_" The claws on her feet extended, the miniature blades gouging holes in the concrete they walked on.

The girl nodded in acknowledgement, and they split up; the first walking towards the mountains, in preparation for her fate; the second, fading into the shadows of the concrete maze, red eyes glowing in the darkness as she waited until nightfall to make the humans aware of the error they had made.

* * *

A/N: Finally, we get to a part I've been looking forward to writing! For the record, this is where everything onward changes. None of the characters are excluded from my finale (I had someone ask if I would be going as far as Lindow/Corrosive Hannibal, considering how fast the story moves along.)

Also, there is a poll on my profile that I'd appreciate if you could submit your suggestions. It's basically asking what you, the readers, would rather see as my next fanfic. All of them are T-rated, all of them have OC-submission possibilities.

Cheers~


	22. Collision of the Keys

When Kama got out of the infirmary with his legs bandaged and cleaned, it was evening. Kama decided it was a little too late to accept a mission, so he gave his God Arc to Licca and headed to his room to get some extra sleep.

_Plus, my legs are still killing me,_ he grumpily thought as every step made his thighs ache. When Kama made it to his room, he changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. He was out like a light in seconds.

* * *

His night was plagued with an extremely vivid nightmare, and it was almost like he was there. His vision seemed to shimmer, pulsating between the light-blue of Resonance and the dark red of Infection.

He could see the Outer Ghetto, the sky dark and a new moon in the sky. There were very few lights on, and his vision seemed to move forward, like he was advancing. He felt intense delight, for some reason, but was dragged along the dream.

His vision whited to a blur, the image focusing until he was nearby a random house. He could move his arms, though they were translucent; he could see through his arm as he raised it to his eyes, seeing the ground underneath it.

A small scuffle of feet on dirt made him glance up, and he backed up rapidly as he saw a pair of bright red eyes glowing from the shadows in a nearby alleyway. He only saw the eyes, no body, and for a second he feared it had seen him.

But no, the eyes turned to the side, completely ignoring him. He sighed, then looked closer at the darkness around the eyes. As his eyes improved, the eyes moved across the street to two homes beside the one he leaned against. He only saw bits and pieces, but he thought he saw a human.

_What human has bright red eyes that glow in the dark?_ Kama was confused, but at the same time worried. Only Aragami had eyes like that, so it had to be a New-Type.

He paid more attention to the dream, wondering if it was similar to the one the night before. _Perhaps it's trying to warn me of something!_

Running toward the humanoid shape, he saw it climb extremely quietly onto a roof, not making a sound as it clawed its way up and leaped from roof to roof. He tried to catch up, not wanting to lose sight of it.

Close to ten minutes into the chase, though, ice shot through Kama's veins as he heard the sound of a woman screaming, cut off with a wet gurgle. He stopped in the doorway, knowing it was too late.

The scream had to have originated from the human shape leaning against the wall, its features darkened and unrecognizable by the shadows of night. Kama whipped his head around as he heard a quiet grumbling.

He gazed at the back of a furry human-shape Aragami, a thin tail resting against the ground. A male voice close the house called out "Yeah, I swear I heard a scream from over here!" _Karel! He'll stop the Aragami!_ Kama thought; his heart was hurting from the sudden loss of an innocent, and he wanted revenge.

As he saw Karel walk directly past the doorway, his gun in hand as he completely missed the Aragami standing in the gap, the Aragami made its move. It leapt forward and silently dashed to Karel's exposed back. Kama yelled "Run, Karel!" but Karel didn't even turn.

_Oh right, a dream. I'm not even here, and this isn't really happening,_ Kama thought, sighing with relief. It was short lived, however, as Karel's agonized scream was heard all around, the Aragami choosing not to silence him.

Lights in the houses around them flicked on, irate and scared voices all mixing together in a loud cacophony of discord. As the lights shined down on the scene down the road, Kama finally saw what happened.

The Aragami, a black-furred humanoid feline-shape, had stabbed Karel through his stomach. The beast's hand stuck out the other side, glistening with a dark substance. It grabbed hold of Karen's shirt collar with its other hand and pulled, causing another scream.

The beast lifted Karel, its hand still in his body, and tossed him through a nearby window to elicit screams of terror from the civilians inside. Spotlights shined all over the place, illuminating the beast and every escape point it possibly had.

The Aragami Invasion alarm was blaring, an insistent echo even as his vision blurred again . . .

* * *

. . . Kama woke up with the upper half of his body on the floor, his legs half on the bed, half against the side of the bed. The alarm sound had followed him into reality, and Kama didn't understand what was happening until Kota barged into his room with his jacket half on and his pants unbuckled, yelling "Come on, Kama! There's an Aragami invasion in the Outer Ghetto in sector E26!"

Kama immediately got up from the floor, rushing to grab his lucky jacket. As he ran down the hall, still wearing his pajamas but protected by the jacket, he headed to Licca to grab his weapon. He was shocked when Licca shook her head, saying apologetically "I partially disassembled it for repairs last night; it's still unusable."

Kama felt his chest tighten and declared "Fine, I'll go help the civilians!" as he dashed up the stairs, swerving to avoid the other God Eaters dashing downstairs for their own weapons.

When he neared the door to the Outer Ghetto, he passed Tsubaki and Hibari whispering close to each other. He heard the word "death", and stopped at the door, turning back and asking in a harsh voice "Repeat that last thing you said."

Tsubaki glared at him, but Hibari quietly said "Don't let it spread yet, but there are already two confirmed deaths, as well as several fatally wounded. Karel Schneider, Old-Type sniper user, and Rachel Tsumi, a civilian have both been confirmed dead. Hearing about losing a valuable teammate before battle will be a horrible dent in morale."

Kama grit his teeth and dashed outside, ignoring Tsubaki's demands for him to stay inside without a weapon. He looked around and followed the focus of the spotlight beams, hearing the gunshots from where he stood.

He ran, noticing there was no damage to any of the buildings, even the ones around the fight. After a few minutes, he arrived at the scene to assess the situation. The hair rose on his neck as he dodged behind a building, hiding until the beast turned away. _This is the same beast from my dream!_

As he glanced around, he even saw the exact same building Karel was thrown through in his dream, blood shining on the broken glass. _What the hell is going on?!_

He peeked around the corner, watching the fight. There were already several God Eaters knocked unconscious, some of which were damaged so much they couldn't be anything but dead.

The beast was feline, but it stood like a human. Its legs and arms were humanoid, covered in sleek black fur, and it had paws for feet, as well as clawed hands. He watched it duck to avoid a lunge from a blade user, kicking a corpse laying behind it to knock the God Eater through a doorway.

Kama narrowed his eyes as he spotted Alisa and Soma in the group of God Eaters, both attacking with blades and managing to cut across the beast's torso. However, it didn't seem to do anything as the Aragami showed its fangs, hissing at the duo.

With unnatural speed, it dashed forward, shooting its arm out with the palm out and forcing Alisa to fly backward, crashing through the window of another building.

It then straightened the fingers of that hand and pointed them outward to resemble a blade and widely swept its arm in a half-circle, slicing Soma's chest and making him fall down, clutching his wound in agony.

In less than three seconds, it had nearly killed two elite God Eaters.

As it walked toward Soma, ignoring the gunshots that bounced off the beast's fur, it grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air, squeezing its hand to choke him. Soma's feet started kicking, his hands clutching the beast's arm as he gasped for air.

Kama dashed forward, lowering his shoulder in a tackle. He slammed shoulder-first into the beast, somehow making it stumble to the side and lose its grip on Soma. Kama felt an odd sensation, like a resonance, as he made contact with the beast. He watched the creature fall to its side and nimbly bounce back up, balancing on the balls of it's heels.

It turned to stare at Kama, its face morphing into a wide grin as it prepared both of its clawed hands and held them like a cat. A familiar voice, deep and female, echoed all around the area, though not a word was spoken. Every God Eater stopped moving, listening as the voice halted them as effectively as a punch to the face.

_**So it is you, Fragment of Will. Of course our paths would collide again, Kama Kotaku.**_ Kama's eyes widened in undisguised fear as he heard his name spoken in his mind by . . .

". . .Kinaia? Is that you?" he wearily asked, holding his arms in a self-defense stance. The creature laughed, the deep guttural barks of glee confirming Kama's question. _**Of course it is me, fool. You didn't think Aragami Infection would stop destiny, would it?**_

As it spoke, its body seemed to morph, the fur falling away and revealing pale skin, a red version of the outfit she wore when she was infected, blue hair hanging down to her shoulders, and greenish red eyes tinted with all-encompassing rage.

Kinaia grinned, showing razor sharp teeth, and spoke with the same voice she used to have "It's been awhile, Fragment of Will. To think, you of all people would be the final key in Fenrir's master plan." Kama narrowed his eyes, quietly asking "What . . . did you say?"

She chuckled darkly, snarling "Fenrir used you, just as they used me and the Fragment of Truth. All of us, experiments in Fenrir's research; pawns of the humans whose greed overruled their logic. You fight on their side, unaware that they plan to stab you in the back if it furthers their ambitions."

Kama pressed his lips in a firm line, holding back tears as his hand slowly curled into a partial fist. "Stop talking in riddles and tell me the truth, Kinaia." He yelled in frustration. His jacket was draped behind his back, his eyes blazing as he stood rigidly.

If you want to know . . ." She brought her left hand closer into her stomach, claws extended as her right hand rested by her thigh. "Then prove that you deserve to live. Prove that you hold the will to carry out your destiny, and find me." Her teeth spread into a massive grin, her eyes sparking with insanity. "Find me, and fight for your right to live."

(/nU2N2MV) (imgur. com)

_**Until then,**_ the deep voice echoed as her body grew sleek black fur once again, _**Watch your back, trust no one, and search out the truth on your own. I'd start counting every day you live a blessing, for it won't be much longer.**_

She dashed forward in the blink of an eye, jumping and kneeing Kama into the wall of a building. As he fall onto his back, coughing with pain, everyone got into action far too late. Kinaia had escaped; her outline in the dark sky showed large wings similar to a Chi-You arm as she glided from rooftop to rooftop, evading all bullets shot toward her.

A large number of God Eaters chased her in pursuit while a small number remained behind to care for the wounded and recover the dead. An anonymous recruit helped Kama to his feet, lending him his shoulder when Kama said "I need to go see Johannes. Take me to him."

He limped with the recruit, the Den gate in sight and rage visible in every stiff movement he made.

* * *

". . . _**search out the truth on your own. I'd start counting every day you live a blessing, for it won't be much longer**_." Sakaki stopped the recording, having a saddened facial expression as he restarted the video recorded from the plaza camera.

_Johannes, you fool. I warned you about this endeavor, and yet you kept poking the beehive with greed on your mind. Well, now the bees are swarming, and you are about to get stung._ He replayed the recording, watching for and sighting all of the tell-tale signs of experimentation when Kinaia attacked and moved.

_Enhanced speed, enhanced reflexes, advanced Oracle Cell manipulation . . . Johannes really did sign his death warrant, one way or another._ Sakaki brooded, his gaze travelling to his communicator as he debated contacting the corrupt director.

He swept it off the table in disgust, mentally snarling. _What's the point, he won't listen to me now anymore than he did when I gave my advice for the Managarm Project. Let him try to figure out what to do without my help for once._

_I just hope this doesn't end up destroying the world, like we feared._

* * *

A/N: Ooh, Kinaia strikes, and the plan's mostly revealed! To all of the Shio and Karel fans, I deeply apologize for the turn of events, as well as future events.

No flames, please. I can already see some coming a mile away.

Cheers~


	23. The Plan

When Kama reached the Den's elevator, assisted by the recruit from earlier, he nodded his thanks and told the kid "Go back to the Outer Ghetto. Help the rescue efforts and try to find all of your friends alive and intact."

The God Eater, who couldn't have been older than 13 years old, turned his face away from Kama and muttered "I don't want to go back out there. I already saw the bodies of God Eaters on the ground. Could I aid the civilians instead, please?" he pled quietly.

When Kama nodded, the recruit took a subtle deep breath and headed back outside. Kama couldn't blame him for not wanting to help the remaining Gods Eaters. A lot of good people had died tonight.

He went up the elevator, having a few things to take care of before he confronted Johannes with this new information. He had people to see, wounds to fix. He didn't want to give the image that he was weak at a time when strength was the most important conversation starter.

First, he headed upward to the veteran living quarters. Even at four in the morning, the Den was a flurry of action. Arashi was pointing to various parts of the veteran living quarters while facing three young recruits. There were two boys and a girl, all in their teens, and they listened closely.

As Kama got closer, he caught the last part of Arashi's instructions. ". . . Need to reinforce the outer walls, as well as the Den. When the sun comes up, I need you three to go into the field and recover extra cores from any Aragami you can find. The smaller ones don't do much, but every little bit is helpful. Understand?"

The two boys nodded silently, but the girl gave a salute and loudly said "You can count on us, leader!" before turning to run toward the elevator, almost running into Kama. One of the boys chuckled a little bit, telling her "C'mon, Annette, that's not really the best way to move around, you know?"

She coughed in embarrassment, yelling back at him "Shut up! I'm just energetic, is all!" She turned back to Kama, saying "Sorry about that, unit leader. I wasn't paying attention." Kama patted her shoulder reassuringly and said "No worries. Just be a little more careful next time."

Arashi spotted Kama and dismissed the other two boys, walking up to Kama while the girl named Annette walked to the elevator. "That new girl is more energetic than Kota, but at least she's efficient and motivated easily." He said when he got within earshot of Kama.

Kama nodded and asked "So what's her name and weapon type?" Arashi slightly grinned, telling him "Annette Koenig. She's from the Germany branch 'Blitzkrieg', and she transferred about a week ago." Kama raised his eyebrow when he continued on, "She's a New-Type, as well as Federico. The kid who teased her just now," he elaborated at Kama's confused face.

Arashi lowered his voice as he said "She's using a Burst Hammer, just like Kinaia. Let's watch for any of the signs we know, alright?" Kama nodded, feeling his heart prick at the mention of her name. He still felt the rib she bruised when she kneed him in the chest, and he truly didn't want to kill her.

Arashi noticed his sudden change in attitude, and asked "What's wrong? You look like Kanon just got injured in the attack." His gaze darkened, asking "she didn't, did she?" Kama shook his head and told him "Not to my knowledge, no. Were you in the thick of the battle, or somewhere else?"

Arashi shook his head, saying "I was stuck in the clinic, helping Sera with the recruits being sent to her. Kanon wasn't in there with her, so she asked me to help her move injured teammates to the beds and off of them when she stabilized the worst wounds."

He paused, and then asked "how bad was it? One of the wounded said there was only one Aragami, but that doesn't explain how so many people were hurt and killed." Kama nodded, his voice bitter as he said "There was only one Aragami, yeah. It was Kinaia."

Arashi was silent, his eyes narrowing in anger. "I really didn't want to have to hunt her. Even before she transformed, she was insane with bloodlust. This is going to be a tough one."

Kama nodded, but abruptly huffed out a breath and clapped his hands on his cheeks, saying "Well, even though my head was filled with all sorts of dark feelings, hopefully nothing will happen soon. I need to get better and stronger, because Kinaia is deadly, stealthy, and merciless now. Mixed with insanity and Infection . . . I don't have a hope in hell of fighting her on equal footing right now."

Arashi argued "But with a big enough force, we could overpower and overwhelm her, right?" Kama shook his head, relaying how every bullet had bounced off of the supposedly soft fur, how she moved faster than an angered Tigrex, and his dream before the alarm went off.

Arashi exclaimed "She murdered her own mother? What's happened to Kinaia to make her want to do this? Why specifically target her mother, rather than any random civilian?" He stopped, as if he remembered something, and said "hang on a minute . . ."

His eyes squinted in thought, and he asked "Where did we surface from, when we exited the tunnels?" Kama blinked, surprised, and said "an incomplete elevator shaft around the Aegis access path. You think she's in the caves?"

Arashi shrugged, saying "Maybe so, maybe not. But I know someone who can help us find her. That is, if he was being honest when he told me he wasn't our enemy."

Kama tilted his head in confusion, and Arashi told him "Remember what I said about Aron? He told me that there were more creations by Fenrir in the side passages, too violent to be set free. What if Kinaia had been there, but escaped?"

Kama's eyes widened, having not thought about that before. He nodded slowly, thinking it over before saying "That is a definite lead we can follow. For now, though," Kama turned, heading to the elevator again, "I have to get my chest looked at. Kinaia got me pretty good with a blunt attack."

Arashi sighed before saying "Hey, Kama . . . promise you won't start this without me. Karel is dead; several God Eaters I used to know are dead. I can't let this sit on my mind without doing anything to help the outcome."

Kama nodded, saying "Of course. You're one of the people I trust most, here. Don't tell anyone about the plan unless you trust them with your life, alright? Fenrir can't get advance notice until we're prepared to act." Arashi nodded, then turned to go down one of the hallways.

Kama moved into the elevator, heading to the infirmary to get his chest checked out. _Nothing like __**yet another**__ broken rib to ruin my day_.

* * *

Sakaki listened as Kama and Arashi plotted, obviously unaware that the entire Den, minus the rooms, was able to record every sound they made. He had microphone earbuds in his ears, listening to what they said with a neutral expression on his face.

He opened up the audio documents and deleted the files from the database, knowing Schicksal would act even faster if he knew about Arashi and Kama's decision. He already knew that Fenrir had located and secured the Singularity, but perhaps . . .

Perhaps he could lead these boys to their first destination. They certainly deserved the truth, after all they had been through. _You cannot influence my decision anymore, Johannes. I may be a stargazer, but I shall act if the stars are not in our favor._

* * *

Kama walked inside, seeing every bed occupied and Sera working with two recruits as fast as she could. One of the recruit's heads was bandaged, the other with his arm in a tourniquet. And yet, they worked as fast and efficiently as possible.

Kama walked over to Sera while she was reaching for more gauze and asked "Should I come back another time? I don't think I'm seriously injured." She glanced at him, took in his stance in an instant, and said "If you could come back in a few hours, it would be much appreciated. Also, find Kanon for me, alright? She never reported in, and her communicator isn't answering."

Kama nodded, more than a little worried, and went to his room to access the database. He noticed that he had quite a few new emails; one of them was from an anonymous sender, and it was a recorded message. _Odd,_ Kama thought as he opened it, _no one is supposed to be 'anonymous' to Fenrir._

Though, as he listened to it, he felt his forehead clench in a confused stare. When it ended, he had to play it back once more, just to be sure.

"_If you truly have the will to find the truth, perhaps you could do with a little bit of guidance on the road?_" It was distorted from static, but Kama could easily make out Sakaki's voice. He started to get curious for a moment, turning off the recording as Kota came into his room.

Kota said "Nozomi and Mom are safe, and most of the God Eaters have been recovered, both the dead and the living." He hesitated, and then asked "Is it true, what everyone's saying? Did Kinaia attack the Den?" Kama nodded, saying "Yeah. Seems like she has a definite grudge against us, but I can't tell you more. I'm sorry."

Kota looked downcast before muttering "alright, I get it. Just, make sure to find out her reasoning before . . . stopping her." He looked up at Kama as he told him "I know Kinaia, and I've seen her act this way before, when we were kids. She always acted over the top and vengeful when she found out the kids in the Outer Ghetto were lying to her, and had been lying for a long time."

He turned to walk out of the room, saying to Kama without facing him "Find out whether her anger is justified. Kinaia might have her wrathful moments, but she had a very black and white personality. That's why we got along so well." He exited the room, closing the door with the muted drone of machinery.

Kama turned and left his room, deciding to go to Sakaki's office for an answer. _So much to do, so little energy . . ._

* * *

He entered, seeing Sakaki sitting at his desk monitoring his computer. Kama didn't wait to be acknowledged; he walked up to Sakaki's desk and slapped his hands down, anger clear in the motion. He said "Tell me what you meant in that cryptic message you sent."

Sakaki looked up finally, seeing the angry look in Kama's face, and said "You heard what Kinaia said. Prove that you're ready to learn it. But it would be nice to have a place to start, don't you think?" Kama glared at him as he growled out "Nothing is ever that clear cut for you, Sakaki. What are you hiding?"

He smiled slightly, a knowledgeable glint in his eyes as he murmured "The truth is what you make it, whether you take it with an ounce of sugar or a cup of vinegar. However, what you do with the truth is equally, if not more important. Be sure to make the best choice."

Sakaki lowered his voice before adding "Keep in mind, the best choice isn't always the right choice. Many secrets have been made and kept, and Kinaia is the equivalent of a journalist, in simplified terms. She has found her answer, made her choices based on her answer, and is spreading the truth in her own way. Who's to say whether she's right or wrong, or somewhere in the middle?"

Kama was silent before asking "How do I know you aren't one of those that experimented on Kinaia? Or me? And what about this last key, the Fragment of Truth? Why shouldn't I believe you're the mastermind behind this, or that you don't know anything at all?"

Sakaki's smile disappeared, turning into a thoughtful frown as he told him "As I said; the truth is what you make it. You could believe all of that, or none of that, or bits and pieces; none of it is true unless you decide it is, and even then others might not decide it's the truth they want."

Kama asked quietly "And if i want to believe you aren't telling the truth? When would i know the absolute truth when i see it?"

Sakaki crinkled his eyebrows together, saying "I must be leeching off on you, because you're getting more and more clever with each new encounter. Be prepared for the truth Fenrir has accepted, because it will come when you least expect it."

Kama nodded slowly, turning and heading out of the room. _Well, that was a start. At least I'm on the right track to getting some answers._ He decided not to confront Johannes, wanting to see what Sakaki had in store. Instead, he focused on searching for Kanon.

* * *

An hour after daybreak, Kama's nerves began to skyrocket. He had searched all over the Den, all around the Outer Ghetto, and even dug through all of the rubble in the chance that she was among the dead. He couldn't find her anywhere, and he spread the word to Hibari when he returned.

The word was out; Kanon was missing. Kama sighed, really wanting to take a break and rest his legs. He told that part of his brain to shut the hell up.

_One thing after another, I guess. Time to get to work._ "Hibari, send a message to Arashi to meet me in the storage area, please. I'm going on a search mission." Kama said out loud. The others can take care of repairs; he had to take care of his friends first and foremost.

She nodded, sending a message to Arashi. Kama headed to the second floor of the lobby and spotted the third teammate he wanted to bring along. "Hey, Sera! Search and rescue mission, you in?" he asked, seeing her talking with Sakuya.

"Alright, I'm coming! Sakuya, can you watch the injured? They are stabilized, but I need to get out for awhile." Sera asked her, and she nodded. Sera walked over to Kama just as Arashi bounded down the emergency stairwell, asking "Any news?"

Kama nodded and searched the rosters. He spotted Naoko on the list, patrolling the wall, and called the defense leader on duty. Tatsumi answered, saying "What's up? Any problems?"

Kama told him to replace Naoko with someone else, and he said "Got it, she'll be right over" before hanging up. Minutes later, when she entered the building and grouped up with the team, they all headed to the storage.

* * *

Thankfully, Licca worked the entire night on repairing the weapons, so Kama's weapon was ready and fully repaired. He grabbed it, swinging diagonally from his left shoulder to his right leg. "It seems lighter. Did you alter the weight?" he asked Licca, but she shook her head.

Kama shrugged and headed out with his team. When they were a few miles away from the Den, he stopped abruptly and turned to the group, announcing "Sera, Naoko, you two deserve to know what me and Arashi know."

"The Aragami attack was done by Kinaia, whom is an Aragami now. She was possibly experimented on by Fenrir HQ, so she has an enormous grudge against us." Turning to Arashi, he told him "She's one of the keys. I'm the second, and we don't know who the third is."

Explaining to the others, he said "Fenrir focused on creating three keys for an unknown reason. If all three keys gather together, there is reasonable belief that the world as we know it will end in a destructive way. We have no idea how, we have no idea why, and I am almost certain Johannes is deeply involved."

Naoko had her eyes narrowed in anger while Sera had her hand to her mouth in shock. Kama told them "We have to find Kinaia, as well as Kanon. Something tells me her they're connected" before turning forward again, walking off. "Ask questions on the way, but don't swarm me with them."

Arashi took the lead as Kama was stuck answering the two girls' questions. He knew exactly where he was going, and he had a feeling Kama knew it too. Aron might have a few answers for them, so they had to head back into the tunnels.

* * *

A couple hours later, they reached the base of the Snowy Mountains. Arashi gripped his blade tightly as they walked on, fearful for the others and not looking forward to completing his promise. _I said I wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she lost control. What a joke that seems like, right now._

They travelled through the hollowed mountain, stopping as Kama harshly whispered "Stop!" As they paused, looking around for enemies, Kama nudged Arashi and said "Look down, at the lip of the hole." He did as instructed and gasped as he saw the slight gouges in the rock.

The marks looked curved, as if something or someone had clawed their way out. Arashi waited as Kama explained the situation to Sera and Naoko, saying "Remember when we returned to the den? This is where we came from. It's a massive tunnel system connected to a possible Fenrir testing sight, as well as the Den itself."

Naoko gasped, suddenly realizing something. "So that's why you were coming from so far down the elevator! You were able to find another way inside the Den?" Kama nodded before cutting off her next question, saying "We have to jump."

Arashi saw Sera about to argue, but Kama jumped without hesitation. Arashi sighed, and leaped in after him. He heard Naoko let out a short scream that she cut off as she fell, and focused on the ground far below them.

He had never entered by this way before, so he was unprepared for the massive pile of snow that cushioned his fall. Naoko screamed as she fell, unable to see the snow until she fell into it. Sera fell in a second after Naoko, and Arashi scrambled out of the snow to stand beside Kama.

His back was ramrod straight, his voice strained as he said "That . . . wasn't there before." He cupped a hand over his ear, gesturing for the group to listen. Arashi heard a low growl echoing outward from the pitch-black tunnel entrance, and a screech followed. Paws scuffled on the ground for a few moments, stopped abruptly, and there was an ominous silence.

Kama took a deep breath and walked into the tunnel, his chainsaw at the ready. Arashi walked forward, telling Sera and Naoko without turning around "Stick together; don't lose sight of each other. These tunnels are large, cold, and confusing to navigate. Let's go."

The girls followed him, Sera holding onto the coattail of his furred jacket as the three God Eaters advanced into the darkness, following Kama.

* * *

Kama was partly unsurprised to see his night vision had improved since the last time he was here. He moved onward, undeterred by the signs of struggle and the splatters of blood on the walls. Obviously, the caves were inhabited now.

He paused at a fork in the caves, not remembering this part the last time he was here. The left path was eroded from time and weather, but the right was smooth, only slightly gritty from minimal erosion. He placed his hand on the wall, feeling the smooth rock wall. He was sure this was made recently.

He staggered as Arashi smacked into his back, unable to see where he was. Kama placed a hand on his shoulder and quietly hissed "Quiet! Can't you hear all the Aragami around? We aren't alone, and if you make enough noise you'll bring them all down on us!" Arashi audibly gulped, staying close enough to see Kama with his limited vision.

Kama whispered "It looks like this cave entrance is new. I didn't see it the last time I came this way, and the wall is almost completely smooth, not eroded yet. I'm betting on going this way. C'mon" he said as he led the human train down the new tunnel.

It led to a surprising room: An enormous cave, the ceiling so high he can't see it. It was easily longer than two Dens placed side by side, and there were huge lava pools dotted around the area. Large boulders also dotted the floor, and a long trench was made between the walls and the lava floor, filled with lava to act as a moat. Kama looked over the edge, seeing a short distance of freefall before a river of lava.

There was a thin passageway connecting the tunnel and the room placed precariously over the pit of lava, easily 10 feet above it. The path was made of rock and looked stable, so Kama took the risk first and walked carefully across the narrow path.

He held his breath, imagining the worst, and sighed in relief when he was across. He turned back to the group, holding out his hand to Arashi, saying reassuringly "Don't look down, walk slowly and carefully, and keep your eyes on me. You can cross this, no problem." Kama had seen Arashi quickly pale when he realized he was crossing after Kama, so Kama wanted to help him as much as he could.

Arashi took several deep breaths, nodding to himself, and half-step by half-step inched his way across the platform. He held his arms to his sides, his weapon on his back, so he could balance himself better. A nearby geyser erupted with superheated air, blasting with a startling hissing noise. Arashi missed a step, his foot hitting the edge and slipping.

Arashi yelled in unrestrained terror as he felt himself tilting, but Sera quickly crossed the path over to him and grabbed his hand as he fell over. Kama carefully made his way back onto the path and grabbed Sera's torso, pulling with her.

They managed to pull Arashi back onto the platform, and he fell to his knees when he reached the other side safely with Sera and Kama. Sera kept watch toward the middle of the room as Kama turned back again, holding his hand out for Naoko. "Same advice to you; don't look down, watch your step, and pay attention to my hand. You'll be fine, I won't let you fall."

Naoko crawled across, her hands gripping the sides of the walkway as she made her way across. When she made it, Kama pulled her up and patted her back, quietly saying "good job. Now, we have to focus on any possible enemies as well as where the lava pools are. Stay on your guard, and watch your step."

Sera interrupted his orders, nervously telling him "Uhhh . . . Kama? We have a . . . slight problem. Actually, make that a big, **BIG **problem!" Naoko screamed "What the hell is that?!", and Kama whirled around to stare in disbelief. _What the hell has Fenrir been up to down here . . ?_

* * *

A/N: What have they found? What could get Kama, so calm and serious before, so scared now?

For those Monster Hunter fans, you might recognize the area if you ignore the room border. Don't spoil it for the others, though xD

Cheers~


	24. Revelations and Secrets

This was a pretty awesome scene to write, actually. It's great to be able to finally insert one of my favorite monsters (not THE favorite, just one of them) into the fic. Hope you enjoy the fight as much as I did!

Enjoy~

* * *

Kama, Sera, Arashi, and Naoko stared in dismay at the large creature that was crawling out of the massive pool of lava in the center of the room. It was almost as large as an Ouroboros, but easily looked twice as strong and menacing.

The beast was on all four legs as it walked, it's armored shell a dark red which resembled partially cooled lava. It looked vaguely like a demonic turtle, spikes angling backward all along its spine and all four legs. It had an enormous spiked tail that was layered with plated metal.

Its head was absolutely terrifying; spikes angled backwards all along the crown and sides of its head, two massive fangs resembling pincers angled upward from its bottom jaw, giving it even more of a savage look. Its eyes were a flaming red, and every step of its enormous paws left the ground with a reddish glow as it moved onward.

It spotted the four God Eaters, and let loose a massive roar that released a visible shockwave angling outward. As it roared, long and loud, the spikes on its head and spine lifted upward like a porcupine.

Kama yelled "Quick, scatter! Watch for lava, observe its movements, and back me up!" as he sprinted directly toward it, sword prepared as he rushed toward the massive maw of the beast.

Sera ran to the left, skidding behind a large boulder as she prepared her bullets. Naoko stayed still, her shield at the ready as she protected Arashi while he got his own bullets ready.

Kama ducked as it charged at him, managing to slide under its stomach and stab upward for a good hit. His chainsaw skidded on the armor lining its stomach, however, and his blade couldn't pierce through.

Kama saw the tail quickly approaching him and had to escape from his position under the beast. He saw the tail swinging toward him, however, and engaged his shield to block.

Even with his shield engaged, he was thrown back several feet and skid to a stop next to a pool of lava. He got to his feet as the beast focused its gaze on Naoko and Arashi, opening its mouth and inhaling deeply.

Kama screamed "Naoko, Arashi, move NOW!" That stance looked too familiar to the Tigrex's roar to be a coincidence; if size amplified the volume . . .

Naoko must've heard the panic in Kama's voice, because she immediately dashed to the left, hiding behind a rock cluster.

Arashi ran straight toward it, similar to how Kama rushed in at the beginning, and Kama watched as the beast roared once more, a massive cyclone of compressed air shooting outward in a rolling wave of destruction.

Kama dashed forward as the beam shot toward Arashi, reaching the beast as Arashi leaped sharply to the left, the beam missing him by inches, if that.

Kama stabbed his blade into the beast's front right leg. It pierced the armor and Kama dragged the blade across its leg, determined to cause as much damage as he could.

The beast ignored Kama, instead turning to the rock Sera was using as a shield while she fired her gun at it.

Several shots hit it, but none penetrated the armor. It bellowed in rage and slapped its tail fiercely against the ground, causing lava spouts to shoot up.

Kama yelled in fear as several droplets splashed on him, but his jacket must've been tougher than he thought.

It absorbed the lava droplets, protecting Kama's skin as he quickly backed away from the large fountain of magma. He turned back to the monster, seeing it facing him with a deep breath already inhaled.

Kama disobeyed his own rule: don't get cornered. He was caught between two lava fountains and a massive air blast, so he ran toward the beast and attempted to pull the stunt Arashi did.

The air cannon was loud and turbulent, wind whipping everywhere as Kama leapt to the right, dodging it as it neared him.

He had the wrong timing, though, as the blast caught his feet. He was thrown several feet farther than he intended to go, and he landed awkwardly on the rocky floor.

He glanced at his legs, seeing his pant legs and shoes shredded, his legs bleeding from several shallow cuts.

Kama yelled to the others "Don't let the blast hit you directly, or the turbulence will tear you to pieces!" as he bandaged his legs, the beasts attention turned to Arashi as he slashed at the front left leg, causing the monster to roar in pain as Arashi's blade bit deeply.

It started pounding all four of its legs into the ground rapidly, as if throwing a tantrum. Cracks in the ground radiated all around the beast, its rapid pounding causing a miniature earthquake in the room.

Kama noticed that lava overflowed from the cracks, and rushed to the monster to finish this before there was no more ground to fight on.

He heard Naoko scream in pain and turned to her, seeing her sitting on a large rock, grasping her right ankle. Even from his distance, he could see the leg was smoking with heat.

He reached the beast and climbed onto one of the spikes on its back leg, jumping to avoid the swinging tail and reaching upward to climb onto its back.

The beast was incredibly angry at this point, the armored shell now resembling the magma that resided inside the cave. Its eyes seemed to be two balls of fire, and its tusks were blazing a bright orange.

It stood on its back legs, forcing Kama to hang on to two spikes as he was hanging over a pool of lava. Sera and Arashi fired bullets at its stomach, piercing the weakened armor and pockmarking the soft muscles of its belly. However, the monster had an ace in the hole.

Kama managed to climb up to its neck and saw lava bubbling in its throat, about to overflow from its mouth.

It leaned its head back farther and threw its face forward, a massive torrent of lava shooting out to cover the landscape.

Arashi and Naoko had to climb on top of rocks because the floor was completely covered in lava, but Sera continued firing at the beast from the other side of the room, where there was still a floor to stand on.

Kama held on tightly as the monster fell back down, body slamming the lava-covered floor and forcing more lava spouts to erupt and shoot upward.

Kama was beginning to get uncomfortably hot, the room stifling and filled with lava. The beast got on all four of its paws and slowly walked toward the rock Arashi was crouching on, its jaws snapping open and shut in preparation for a meal.

Kama crouched on the armor of its neck, keeping a tight hold of its spikes as he repeatedly kicked a large spike at its base.

After four or five kicks, it snapped off to reveal the soft meat of its neck. The beast roared, distracted from its first meal and thrashing around, trying to throw Kama into the lava.

Kama yelled, a primal reaction to this monstrosity, and stabbed downward with his chainsaw, shredding the meat of its neck and digging deeper.

The beast roared again and again, shooting lava and air blasts rapidly as it felt Kama's blade scrape against its Core.

Kama's blade skid one more time, and he withdrew it to reveal a large black sphere, swirling with purple and grey inside.

He activated his God Arc, telling it "Say goodnight, Aragami," as he stabbed downward to devour the core.

All at once, the beast stopped moving and fell into the lava, its body creating a temporary island from the lava that surrounded Kama.

Arashi yelled "Is it dead?!" while Naoko hopped from rock to rock to get back to the entrance, her leg causing her to limp slightly.

Kama told him "I . . . think so. But I've never seen a core like this before." The core, now safely inside his God Arc, was showing materials never seen or recorded before. It also described the Core as an 'Anomaly-Type Aragami Core', which Kama had never seen before.

He devoured as much of the beast as he could, grabbing spikes, armored carapace, and teeth as he thought of a way to get off.

As he got to the tail and devoured the spikes, he saw the tail lifted, as if it was propped up by something.

He carefully climbed down the tail and – perched precariously on the tail – cut through the tail to discover what the odd object was.

When he managed to slice through the tail and push the end into the lava, he yelled in rejoice as he saw a sort of hatch made of black rock-like materials. It pushed up several feet above the lava, small ledges extending from its base like a pyramid.

He stepped on it, surprised to find the rock cool to the touch even when submerged under lava. He opened it, yelling to Arashi "I can't get over there from here, but I found another way out! Meet you in the funnel cave!"

He heard Arashi yell "Alright! Don't die, Kama!" and opened the hatch to reveal a ladder, also made of the black rock.

* * *

He climbed down the ladder to enter a thin corridor stretching on for what seemed like miles. He walked along, keeping his hand on the right side of the wall as he walked through the unknown material.

He emerged in a large factory-like room, a massive elevator platform at ground level. It apparently went to a large hole above it, pulled along by several chain-link clusters on each corner of the room.

Kama searched the room, spotting several bent girders and a large hallway leading into absolute darkness. He slowly walked down the corridor, keeping his hand on the wall again to reassure himself that he was still moving.

The darkness was so complete, not even his enhanced night vision could pierce through it. He focused on his hand sliding against the wall, and continued onward.

His mind felt a tug, similar to the one from a few days ago. It felt comforting, and he started running down the hallway - eager to see who wanted him to come.

The farther he went into the pitch black tunnel, the closer he felt he was getting to the truth. The tug on his mind was now an irresistible pulling sensation, dominating every sense he had. At the back of his mind, he knew this was a bad idea, but at the same time he wanted to know what it was.

Onward he ran, stopping when the hallway ended with a large room filled with luminescent orange pouches on the walls and ceiling, two humans he recognized all too well, and a massive tentacled creature dominating the back wall.

Kinaia was standing in the center of the room, arms crossed in her human form, a feral grin on her face as she wore the ripped red sweater from before.

On the ground, unconscious, was an unharmed Kanon.

On the back wall was something monstrous, disgusting, but at the same time familiar.

"Welcome to the end of the line, Kama. I see you fought the Akantor already." Kinaia said, her voice echoing loudly in the room.

Her feral grin relaxed into the half-smile she used to always have in the Den when she was a human.

* * *

She unfolded her arms and walked backward, crouching next to the unconscious Kanon as she seemingly spoke to herself "I wonder, how would Fenrir react if I were to destroy the Far East Branch? Or perhaps, if I targeted the headquarters? Their anger would be great; their retribution swift, surely – but in the end, they will all fall like flies."

She brushed the back of her fingers against Kanon's cheek, eliciting a growl from Kama as he told her "Let Kanon go. Your issue is with me, not her." She laughed, the sound cruel in the large room.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't gut your beloved Kanon like a trout. Tell me why I shouldn't devour her delicious meat right here and now." Her fingers, still human, stretched and made a needle-thin cut along the side of her cheek.

Kama barked out "Let her go, or I will kill you." Kinaia stopped, her fingers dropping away as she slowly stood up.

Her head turned to the side, her visible eye swirling green and red as she growled "You, kill me? Is that so? How do you know you could accomplish that, when I hold all of the cards?"

She walked over to the mass of tentacles and flesh on the far side of the wall, declaring "It is almost time. So very, very close. The Singularity has predicted everything, right down to the second on the clock. She is in Fenrir's hands as of now, being taken to Aegis to fulfill her destiny."

She placed the palm of her hand on one of the tentacles, turning to Kama to say "Can you not feel the power? Don't you feel a closeness to this god, like a good friend? Can you not feel the being who's very essence resides in your body, as well as in your Bias Factor?"

As Kama was silent, listening with dreadful curiosity, Kinaia spoke thirteen words that changed everything Kama knew and felt.

"Fenrir implanted Nova's DNA into your body. Everything you know is a lie."

* * *

A/N: And the full truth is finally revealed! This story should have a few chapters left in it, as well as a definite sequel afterwards. I already have an idea forming for what the sequel should be like, but I will try my hand at a slightly less . . . bloody fanfiction after this is complete.

Keep in mind, people, I'm definitely a sucker for dramatic flair. I might suck a little bit at revealing details, but everything I'm doing has a purpose xD

Cheers~


	25. What is a Man, but a Pile of Secrets?

Kama slowly shook his head, muttering "You're lying. You have to be . . ." _Nova . . . inside me? I have the destroyer of world's DNA inside me because of Fenrir? When did it happen? How? Who experimented on me? Why did they do it?_

Kinaia shook her head in pity and walked over to Kama, placing her hand on his shoulder. The resonance from the night before echoed through them again, stronger than before. "I was infected by the Akura Vashimu; that is true. Lindow Amamiya was infected by a Dyaus Pita in the same room; that is also true. However, everything else that you were told involving our deaths is false."

Kama looked up at Kinaia's face to see her staring at him, a glint in her eyes as she revealed "Aragami are not singular cells grouping together to make a living being. They are very much like humans; they have a caste system, they are just as alive as you, or the old me. They have needs and wants, like any living creature. I was told the truth by my infection, and you have earned the right to know."

"My infection, a feline-type species called Nargacuga, was named Nightshade by many different Aragami species. She was as close to royalty as you could get in a society, and she taught me everything she knew. I resisted for a great many weeks, slowly breaking down as my human strength was overpowered by her might. When I was tired of fighting fate, ready to hear her words, she changed my view on life."

Her face took on a sad expression, facing away from Kama as she quietly told him "The highly-touted and famed Fenrir . . . are all as evil as the Aragami they constantly tell God Eaters to slay."

"Understand," she faced him again, angry tears in her eyes, "Aragami are not mindless, nor are they stupid. They can live, they can think on their own, and they hold respect or loathing for others the same as any human. They fight to feed and survive, like any animal."

"When I learned the truth from Nightshade, I was in denial like you. I couldn't believe our 'saviors' would experiment on their own warriors, their own children. And yet, I couldn't argue because of what I experienced, as well as Nightshade resonating with me daily. She showed me the horrors that occurred below the public radar."

She was silent, before sighing heavily and telling him "The day after I told you that Arashi was in the mountains, me and Nightshade were captured by Fenrir agents. They killed Nightshade, ripped my body and consciousness out, and experimented on me for a solid month testing drugs, bone grafts, new Bias Factors. And those are only shaving the tip of the iceberg. During that time in that manufactured hell, my hatred grew . . . as did my perception of the true world."

She spread her arm in a wide arc, indicating the area, asking "See these tunnels? Experimentation grounds. Holding cells. Breeding pens. Genetic manipulation. Every single Aragami besides Nova has been human at some point in time. The only true Aragami, with not a single human cell in its body, is Nova."

"Humans experimented on Nova, took her DNA, locked her in metaphorical chains and removed her core as they grafted Oracle Cells into human DNA, attempting to make the ultimate super soldier at first. When that proved unfeasable hundreds of thousands of deaths later, they decided to initiate the Genesis Project."

She walked back to Kanon, saying "You are one of their very few successes in the Genesis Project, Kama. They implanted Nova's genes into many hundreds of thousands of humans, with extremely mixed results. Over 90% of all test subjects turned into Aragami, which then escaped and spread across the planet like wildfire. 9% of the remaining test subjects, give or take, had enhanced skills and reflexes while maintaining their human shape."

She leaned against the wall Kanon rested against, looking at Kama as she said "Less than 1%, even less than 0.01%, of the remaining subjects were successful in Fenrir's goals. Humans containing a specific part of Nova in their genes, as well as not being completely uncontrollable."

"That was the end result of the Genesis Project; synthesize Nova's core and control Nova for themselves, regardless of what anyone else had to say. He who controls Nova has the powers of a god." She scoffed, adding "Too bad they didn't realize they cannot control a god forever. They needed three different pieces, and each piece had to be compatible with the other two by resonating."

She slapped her palm against her chest, declaring "I embody the wrath of Nova; the fury of a thousand suns, the anger of Nova as she watched her children being experimented on; altered; forcefully born of her genetics and created into monsters."

She stared at Kama, saying "Regardless of whether a mother wants a child; once it is conceived, regardless if it's by consent or force, every responsible mother feels protective of the child that came from her genes. That child is hers and hers alone, and Fenrir stole and tortured Nova's children with experimentation and slavery."

She took a few steps closer to Kama, the glint from before back in her eyes as she told him "You are the will of Nova; you are a living replica of her thoughts, her wants, her emotions, and her responsibilities. You care for all of your teammates like a mother cares for her children." She got close enough to jab Kama's forehead with her index finger, saying "For all intents and purposes, your mind **is** that of Nova's."

Her fingers morphed into graphite-colored claws, declaring "And the third, the truth of Nova; this being reflects Nova's abilities and stature; what Nova would have been, had she chosen a moveable form. The human with the truth of Nova has everything that makes Nova a god: power, royalty, and the ability to maintain his own mind, even while his DNA consists mostly of Aragami cells. We both know him quite well, in fact."

Kama narrowed his eyes in confusion, but all Kinaia did was walk to a specific orange orb on the wall. Looking closer, he saw something moving in each one, the gelatin-like orb acting similar to an embryo. She placed her hand on one in specific, motioning for Kama to come closer to her.

He got up, glancing at Kanon again before moving close to Kinaia, watching the orb cautiously. She told him "Lo, and behold: The Fragment of Truth has been tamed at last."

Kama saw a human curled into a ball; he had dark hair, a brown coat with the Fenrir symbol on the back, and tan pants – as well as a heavily-infected arm.

Kama gasped, backing up in astonishment. _It's Lindow! Lindow is the third key!_

Kama kept backing toward Kanon, Kinaia not focusing on him as she pet the orb of gelatin, saying "Once he has been purified of his corrupted Aragami taint, he will be able to synchronize with us without corrupting us as well. The Singularity has seen all of this, and it has gone exactly as she predicted."

Kama quietly picked Kanon up and held her in a bridal position, preparing to make a run for it until Kinaia sharply asked "Where do you think you can run to? Do you think you can escape the roots of Nova forever?" Kama froze in place as she turned to face him, her left eye red and the skin around it turning black.

"**Do you think you can escape these tunnels alive? You are but flesh, blood, and bones. I have been blessed with Nova's raw emotions; the unrefined feeling of absolute, blood-boiling rage and chaotic insanity.**" Her voice turned deeper, guttural. Her arms began to morph into the feline arms – Nargacuga species, she had called it. "**You can freeze to death, burn to death, be crushed like an insignificant fly, and even bleed to death. I have the power of an Aragami coupled with Nova. You cannot escape in one piece!"** Her hands clenched as she began growling like an angry cat.

Kama spoke up, telling her "You can't kill me if you want the will of Nova. Let us go. Without Lindow being able to resonate with you, you can't form Nova yet by resonating with me. You still need me alive."

Kinaia growled, deep and feral, and snarled "**You don't need arms or legs to be living!**" before letting out a sharp yowl.

The orange orbs along the walls and ceilings started glowing with bright intensity, pulsing and writhing as though they were alive.

Kama saw smaller forms of Kinaia's Nargacuga body inside them, the animals looking like cats rather than humans. He saw bright red eyes blinking open inside each of the orbs and felt a jolt of terror as all of them fixated on his body.

He turned around and bolted, running down the hallway with Kanon in his arms and the sound of yowls behind him. He ran onward in the dark, feeling helpless as he heard claws scratching against the dark tunnel floor, the Nargacugas giving chase.

* * *

Arashi sighed, waiting in the large curved room with Sera and Naoko. "Didn't he say to meet us here?" Arashi asked, impatient and worried. Sera told him "Yes, but keep in mind he took a path that we didn't see. He could be anywhere, but he wouldn't abandon us."

Arashi started to argue until Naoko snapped "Shut up! Listen, do you hear that?" Both Arashi and Sera stopped talking, and they could hear faint cat screeches, as well as moving machinery. It got louder as the seconds passed, and everyone looked around, trying to pinpoint where it came from.

Sera pointed, yelling "Over there!" as Arashi turned toward the center of the room, near the funnel. A platform was rising to plug the funnel, Kama with his sword at the ready and Kanon on the ground behind him, unconscious.

In front of him were three miniature black Aragami cats, similar to Kinaia. The first one pounced, and Kama sliced its face with the teeth of his chainsaw as he swung. One of the others, however, took advantage of his unsteadiness and lunged forward to bite into his ankle.

As he screamed in pain, falling down, the third leaped over Kama and tried to bite Kanon. Sera snapped out of it and raised her gun, firing several shots into its face.

It writhed on the ground, dying in seconds. Kama kicked the second cat off of his ankle and swatted the first with the back of his weapon, throwing it against an ice crystal cluster.

Only the second cat got back up, but it crouched and hissed before running through a side tunnel. Arashi patted Kama's back, saying "Damn, man, you had us worried!"

Sera and Naoko both joined them, Sera checking on Kanon and Naoko patting Kama's shoulder in a congratulatory gesture.

Kama hadn't said a word the whole time, his eyes glazed as if he weren't focusing. Arashi snapped his fingers in front of Kama's face, getting his attention.

His eyes looked far colder as he harshly asked "What do you want?" Arashi backed up a bit, saying "We need you to focus if we're gonna get out of here, bud. Snap out of it."

Kama turned, brushing off Naoko's hand from his shoulder as he said "Then let's go. I have something to take care of."

His voice was about 2 degrees below subzero, and his stance was battle ready, despite being with his team.

_What happened to him?_ Arashi thought, but shrugged it off. He'd ask later, when they were all safe.

* * *

A/N: This is where I have to cut the chapter, unfortunately. After this, things get way too close to the ending to cut it off at a decent place without getting a massive cliffy, regardless of the fact that this chapter ends in massive cliffy itself. :/

Cheers~


	26. The Tales That Collide

This is the two-part finale! It's been a blast working on this story, and it's time to stage the end results!

Enjoy~

* * *

Kama walked onward, unable to talk to the people he once called his friends. Everything Kinaia told him bounced around in his head, unable to settle and give him some peace.

_I am Nova, and Nova is me. Kinaia is my mortal enemy, yet she is supposed to resonate with me, become my ally. Lindow has been captured, being prepared to resonate with Kinaia and myself. If I resonate with them, Nova will be revived._

_The Singularity – the core of Nova – has failed to activate Nova on the surface, but there was another Nova deep underground. A second Nova, or the offspring of Nova?_

_I cannot trust Fenrir or anyone working with Fenrir. They know what I am. They made me this way. They knew I would learn eventually, so they will be prepared for anything I might do._

_I am not human. Not anymore, at least. Someone at the Den experimented on me; gave me Nova's genes._

_The one who has tried to kill me several times and invaded the Den is my previous best friend, turned into the wrath of a god._

_Everything has been a lie. Nothing is normal, nor has it ever been normal. It's all the fault of Fenrir._

_I cannot trust anyone I used to trust. I am truly on my own, now._

Kama's mind bounced thoughts like these back and forth, echoing and rebounding until they formed a solid thought that pleased Kama to the depths of his soul.

_Fenrir killed Kama with their greed. The Kama that once was is dead - replaced. I will defend those that defended Kama, but Fenrir must fall. That is my fate._

_**That is the will of Nova.**_

* * *

Soma struck the arm of his father's form, the Arda Nova. It recoiled, the arm shattering finally, and the female body attached to it was released as the large body died with a groan sounding like his father's voice.

Soma was still reeling from the events leading up to this. Sakaki had warned them of Johannes' plan just as the loud speakers blared for the civilians and God Eaters to enter the designated space shuttles to evacuate the planet.

Aegis was never going to happen; there is no safe haven. The Arc Project - where his father would awaken Nova with the Singularity - has failed, but he spoke of a second Nova; one that he and he alone would control. He planned on unleashing Nova on the world, killing all humans he deemed unworthy and destroying all Aragami on the face of the planet.

"Kota, Alisa, fire at the halo!" he yelled, guarding as a large radiation beam fired from the female body. Kota and Alisa fired repeatedly, cracking off pieces of the halo and weakening the body of the Aragami.

Soma had tried to find Kama and the others before the fight, but they were not in the Den or in the surrounding area. He had no choice but to lead the team to the Aegis platform and try to stop his father from unleashing Nova. And yet, he had been too late.

The presence he felt in the City of Mercy and the Temple of Calm was only an echo of what it once was; the source was a girl laying on the floor, connected by hundreds of small black vines to the large orange oval - dimmed to a dull gray, now - on the human-like face of Nova.

The female body belonging to Arda Nova yelled "**You cannot stop me! My power will overwhelm you humans!**" as it charged another blast, releasing several giant lazors all around the area. Soma had no way of dodging, so he engaged his shield and hoped to be able to withstand it.

Kota crouched behind Alisa as she engaged her shield, but they were both knocked off the platform onto the ground below when they took a direct hit from one of the beams. Soma himself was knocked backward, the force too powerful to guard against.

Soma coughed in pain, yelling "Alisa! Kota! Sakuya!" while looking around for Sakuya. He saw her unconscious on the floor, her eyes dimmed somewhat as she lay unconscious. She was still alive, but she needed help quickly.

_Damn, it looks like we've lost. Dad . . . has won . . ._ Soma fell to his knees, then onto his chest as he gazed at the childlike female Aragami connected to Nova. She had seemed so harmless, and yet she was the Core of Nova. Despite failing, it was still strong enough to supercharge the synthetic Aragami that had currently demolished the best team in the Far East Branch.

At the corner of his vision, he saw Kama jump down from the elevator, an odd blade in hand. It looked like a flat blade with several curves and blades, layered like a razor. It had scorch marks on its side, the blade was a dark red – almost like lava – and a large half-moon blade was at the tip of the blade.

Kama seemed darker. Colder, almost, like he was angry at the world. He reminded Soma of himself, back before his friends changed his outlook on life. He was also missing his armlet; a large red gash was where it used to be, blood dripping down his hand.

Climbing out of the floor from one of the grates was an unbelievable sight; Lindow, dressed in the same clothes he wore before he went missing, his right arm a blood-red Infection imitation of his old weapon and a Hannibal shield on his left arm.

He had golden plates on his shoulders, a white armored tail – a Hannibal tail, Soma belatedly recalled – and a flaming halo behind his back, attached by unknown means. Soma saw him flick his gaze back and forth between the female body and Sakuya, seemingly hesitant.

Crawling up from the side of the Aegis platform was Kinaia with a transformed appearance; her skin, though pale, was covered in black fur. Both of her arms had Hannibal shields on them, glowing red with heat. On the backs of her calves were two engines, similar to the one her old weapon had.

Her face was the same as always, though; emerald green eyes, blue hair in a messy ponytail, and the crinkles around her eyes as she grinned, showing sharp teeth. Soma watched with rapidly blurring eyes as all three stood between his father and the rest of the team, weapons at the ready.

They were talking with each other, Kama possibly giving them orders. He couldn't tell, though, because his hearing had started to fade along with his vision.

_This sight is . . . acceptable, if I am to die now._ He had this thought as he fell unconscious, tears of heartbreak in his eyes. He only wished he had a chance to say farewell to Kinaia . . .

* * *

When Kama, Arashi, Sera, and Naoko climbed up the elevator shaft, Kama had ordered his team to leave him alone as he stayed on the platform, facing away from them. Arashi had asked "What's the matter with you? You haven't been yourself at all!"

Kama had yelled at him, saying "Get the hell away from me! Get to the shuttles and get off this planet!" Arashi backed up, a hint of fear in his eyes as he told him "Shuttles? What are you talking about?" Kama was silent, telling him "I have to take care of something, but I can't guarantee that it will be a happy ending. Take the girls to the space shuttles and get off this planet. Now."

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion before taking Sera and Naoko to the elevator, a look of worry on his face as the doors closed. Kama hadn't moved an inch, even to nod his head in farewell. When the elevator closed, the machinery moving them upward, Kama stood in the silence letting his new feelings spread.

"So," he spoke to himself, his voice echoing in the passageway above the void, "I know what I am, now, Sakaki. I know you can hear this, so I'll save the accusations and say this: If you were, in any way, involved with my experiment, count the minutes you remain alive and pray for a miracle, for they will be the last ones you have."

He angled his chainsaw above the armlet attached to his wrist, the blade pointed downward. He stabbed downward, creating a large crack in his armlet with his God Arc and throwing the blade down the shaft as he walked toward the Aegis passageway. Out loud, he said "I forsake the last of my humanity. Those whom fought with me, protected me, and lived with me, I will spare and protect. Fenrir will fall."

He felt the Aragami cells flowing through his body as the armlet shattered, invigorated and healed far more than any amount of medical supplies had ever been able to accomplish.

He raised his hand, the devoured materials from the Akantor fusing and forming inside his body to create a new blade, a stronger blade. One of his own design, free of any ties to Fenrir as well.

Now completely detached from Fenrir – bodily, mentally, and symbolically – he walked into the passage and made his way to another familiar pull. _I'm coming, Goddess. Please, wait a little longer; it will all be worth it in the end._

He reached an elevator that required a keycard to access, but Kama had no time to waste searching for one. He thought of what to do, unable to think of a way up, until a familiar male voice behind him said "So, you chose to join us after all?"

He turned, seeing Lindow awake and walking toward him, his trademark smile in place. The man was a mix of human and regular Hannibal pieces; his left arm was morphed into a chainsaw-like weapon, the right arm had a Hannibal shield on it. A white Hannibal tail curled behind him, resting on his shoulder as he leaned against the elevator keypad.

Kama nodded, feeling awkward for some reason. Lindow grinned and said "I knew you were sensible, Kama. That's why I trusted you when we were both humans." His smile faltered, asking awkwardly "So . . . how did Sakuya hold up? Did she . . . did she ever move on?"

Kama's eyes softened, and he shook his head. Lindow muttered "Damn." under his breath, and said in a louder voice "Well, let me give you a hand. Or rather, a tail. Step on the tail tip, and I'll give you a launch up the shaft." Kama nodded, saying "Thanks. Good luck out there," as he got in position.

Lindow grinned widely, showing sharp serrated teeth as he sarcastically joked "We need no luck; we have Nova on our side, remember?" Kama chuckled as Lindow flipped his tail upward, cracking it like a whip and sending Kama up the shaft. He grabbed onto the edge, pulling himself up and seeing that the human's fight was almost lost.

Arda Nova had been defeated, the large masculine body in pieces on the floor. Alda Nova, the feminine body that is protected by the other, was still intact and wrecking the first unit team.

He watched Alisa and Kota get thrown off of the platform, alive but unable to reach the platform anymore. Sakuya was already down, her body bruised and bleeding as she lay unconscious.

Soma, however, fell to his knees, propping himself up with his blade. He fell regardless, head tilted to the side as his body gave up, even as his mind wished to fight further. Kama chose that moment to walk forward, bringing his own weapon out of his arm and letting it skid across the ground as he walked at a leasurely pace to stand between Alda Nova and Soma.

He spotted Lindow breaking out of a ventilation shaft in the ground, climbing up with his weapon and shield ready. His back was protected by a flaming halo, wisps flowing away from the glowing ring; the limit breaker of the Hannibal species, unlocked and unleashed. His eyes met Kama's, and he nodded as he held the odd chainsaw substitute like a gun-type.

Slightly past him, he saw Kinaia in partial human form hop over the side of the platform. Her face was human, but her body was Nargacuga. She had Hannibal shields on both arms, and the engines from her old hammer were on the backs of her legs. She stood in front of Kama and Lindow, and the three of them were positioned in a rough triangular shape.

Kama grinned, running his tongue across the points of his newly-reformed jagged teeth as he asked "Let's finish this tale with a bang. You two set?"

Kinaia hissed out "I was waiting for this moment since you bastards killed Nightshade. This couldn't be any more satisfying unless they crawled out like the vermin they are and begged for mercy."

Lindow's gaze kept focusing on Sakuya, who was on the ground, and he said "If I can save the few that deserve it . . . everything will be worth the sacrifice of my own freedom. I will fight to save my previous friends, with the blessings of Nova."

Kama roared out "Let's do this!" as he charged in, his new blade raised high as he sprinted toward the synthetic Aragami.

Lindow crouched in front of Soma and Sakuya, shooting blood-red spikes from the chainsaw replacement.

Kinaia dashed in, shields acting like fists as she moved them into an uppercut.

* * *

"Despite all of the problems, all of the conflicts, and all of the hatred between Will and Wrath . . . their paths have collided in a union of damnable intentions."

"In the end, when all has been said and done . . . their decisions have been made, and those decisions changed the course of history, for better or worse . . ."

"What have these paths wrought, in this desolate world known as Terra?"

Aron stood in the darkness, observing the fight as Alda Nova was torn to shreds from the combined might of a god. He sighed, closing his eyes and sitting on the ground, his legs folded under him and his arms resting on his knees.

He faced the large machine in front of him, engaging and staring directly into the massive recorder as he reported "This is the final recording from the human-controlled planet Terra. Nova has succeeded; Terra will fall. I tried to influence the Will, but my efforts failed."

"If anyone survives to return to Terra and listen to this message, know that I tried to prevent this. May Nova have mercy on us all."

* * *

A/N: This is the first part of a two-chapter ending, and I really didn't feel like taking the extra two minutes to describe how horribly Alda Nova (Tsukuyomi-form) was beaten.

Cheers~


	27. Will Destroy and Revive

This is the conclusion of "A Tale of Two".

Enjoy, and thank you for all the support throughout this story that was thought up and written on a whim!

* * *

Kama, Kinaia, and Lindow stood on the platform, weapons engaged as they watched Alda Nova struggle to stand. Her body was beyond broken; it was so pulped, the original image was unrecognizable. And yet, it still faintly moved, attempting to escape.

Johannes' voice weakly murmured "So, the puppets have risen against their creators? What a fitting end . . . for the one who tried to warp Divine Providence . . ."

Kinaia walked toward him, her face mixed with rage and contempt as she haughtily told him "Don't make yourself sound like the victim. You created your own mess, so you will take the blame when humankind is nearly extinct."

She glanced backward at Lindow and Kama, pausing in thought before asking "So, Will and Truth, since I'm biased in this matter, being Wrath and all . . . Shall we give the humans time to make a final decision? Give them a last chance to choose whether to damn themselves completely, or salvage what they have and escape the planet?"

Kama was quiet before declaring "We shall allow them twenty four hours to make a decision. Tell the Historian to alert the entire planet of this, and wait them out. After twenty four hours, we group up in range of Nova Prime and finish what the humans forced on us."

Lindow nodded, glancing once more at Sakuya as he quietly said "There are still a good amount of humans that have not been corrupted by greed for power. We cannot punish everyone for the mistakes of their superiors. I agree with a twenty four hour time limit where we do nothing and see what they decide."

Kinaia nodded, then turned back to Johannes, planting her foot on the shattered body of Alda Nova as she said "Well, look at that. Mercy from the heavens. More than the human race deserves, and too much of a blessing for you to deserve. You shall die here and now, Johannes Schicksal."

She raised her hand, morphing it into a Caligula blade, and stabbed it into the body of Alda Nova. Kinaia backed away, morphing her body into a complete human form as she sneered "I never trusted him in the first place, even as a human. He was corrupted to the core."

Kama stared at Kinaia, raising an eyebrow while reminding her "Keep in mind, you were insane with bloodlust before you had the excuse of 'being unable to control the Aragami cells.' Regardless of the fact that it was pure propaganda." Kinaia rolled her eyes, waving her hand side to side as she said "that's beside the point."

Lindow chuckled to himself and said "Even as an Aragami, it's nice to know we don't lose our personalities from before. I had been told the truth by Fenrir early on, but I wasn't sure if I would be myself when I changed."

The two others looked at Lindow, smiling as well. They hadn't really thought about that, either. Only, the question was: How would they create the Core? Would they be absorbed by Nova Prime? Would they combine together? Or would they maintain their own bodies?

Kinaia huffed and said to the unspoken question "Everything will be known in a day. Everything will change, and it will be glorious."

The three spread out, completing their last tasks before Nova awoke. There were many things to do, and only one day left to do them.

(In the next three parts, I was playing /watch?v=Ln2ExJv6yR8 in the background as i typed. Might enhance the experience :P) (Youtube)

* * *

Kinaia had two tasks to complete. One final tie to sever from her old life, as well as a visit to her first victim; killed in a moment of uncontrollable rage.

She walked to a cemetery directly outside the Fenrir Far East branch, looking for a certain grave. There was no one in the Outer Ghetto any longer, so she could search freely without worries. She spotted the freshly dug plot of land and read the name to be sure.

**Here Lies Rachel Seran Tsumi, born of Japanese and German origins. Slain in an Aragami invasion. ****May her soul find peace****.**

Kinaia sighed, crouching in front of the grave and placing her hand on the freshly carved stone. She regretted how she handled the situation; could still see her mother's pleading eyes as Kinaia had ripped her throat open.

Despite her initial denials, Rachel had eventually admitted to being the head scientist tasked with operating on Kinaia. She hadn't enjoyed experimenting her only living relative, but Fenrir's word was law. She was told to experiment on Kinaia, or they would dispose of her and find someone else who wouldn't have as many doubts.

Kinaia was blinded by rage, betrayal; hatred directed toward her mother, Fenrir, the world. When she returned to reality - her rage quelled - she saw that her hands were bloody and her mother sat against the wall, her throat a bloody mess. Her eyes were glazed, signaling that she was dead, and Kinaia felt immense guilt and regret.

At that point, Karel had to come and search, so Kinaia had to kill him before he saw her handiwork. However, as she stabbed her arm through his chest, she neglected to close his mouth or cut his throat due to being distracted at feeling another Fragment inside the Den.

Karel had screamed in a dying panic, waking many of the nearby civilians and alerting the Den to her presence. She'd had to kill many God Eaters just to escape, still seeing the faces of those she knew and murdered every time she closed her eyes for more than a few seconds.

Kama had come, weaponless, and knocked her away from Soma as she attempted to kill him. No one saw the tears that fell from her eyes and soaked her neck fur during the fight as she gripped Soma's neck, choking the life out of him.

She resonated, gaining a burst of energy when he touched her, and was stupefied at the turn of events. _Kama? He's the third fragment? This is too easy. There has to be a catch._ she had thought, springing up in excitement.

But no, it was real. It was true. As she mentally paralyzed everyone else's nerves, preventing them from moving, she explained the partial truth and challenged Kama to earn the rest of the truth. Then she had escaped, leaping over the house and morphing a pair of wings to glide from rooftop to rooftop.

_To be fair,_ Kinaia mused as she sat in front of the grave belonging to her mother, _it was luck that I managed to find Kanon after escaping. Holding her hostage certainly gave Kama incentive to find me faster._ Kanon had been separated from her team, investigating a particularly noisy jump that Kinaia made.

She knocked her out in one blow to the back of her head and took her underground, awaiting for Kama to find her. She hated having to force Kama's hand, but she had no time to waste.

She was amazed that he took down the synthesized Akantor, a creation discovered and amplified by Johannes Schicksal himself. It supposedly unbeatable, considering it could spawn lava at will.

She untied her ribbon, carving off a piece of the tombstone with one of her claws to make a hook, and tied the ribbon around it. She hoped her mother understood Kinaia's intentions, wherever she may be. She now had a different attitude for her mother's actions.

She was now thankful that her mother forged the perfect Aragami. She was eager for the chance to fulfill her duty to the only true goddess.

Nova Prime had sent Nightshade's essence to her, Nova Prime sent the Singularity to aid her escape from the tunnels, and Nova Prime allowed Ragnarok's essence to adapt to Kinaia's body. Nova Prime, the daughter of Nova, had been there for her since the moment she lost the right to call herself 'human'.

Why wouldn't she dedicate her loyalty to a god that spared her?

As she morphed into Ragnarok's form - a humanoid red dragon - keeping Nightshade's form as homage to her Aragami mother of sorts, she allowed her body to form into a magma colored dragon. She had four blood red horns curving from her head and angled backwards, resembling a crown. She grew wings as wide as her body's height, large, clawed and the color of blood.

Her clothes shredded, revealing dark red scales all over her body. Fur had formed around her . . . private areas – Kinaia noticed with amusement – as her feet grew in size and flexibility, growing longer and sharper claws.

Ragnarok, the new Aragami using her as a host, spoke to her mind in a deep feminine voice. _**Hello, Wrath of Nova. You know of my name, you know the power I possess, and you know of the legends I have inspired. I have heard of your accomplishments, as well. I have a strong feeling that we shall get along wonderfully . . .**_

Kinaia grinned, her teeth wide and her green reptilian eyes sparkling with glee as the sun began to go down, the time limit for the humans almost depleted. _Soon, it shall be finished. The three deities shall reign under the almighty Nova, and nothing can stop us._

* * *

Lindow had morphed into a human, somehow maintaining his infected arm, and watched the two adults dash off, finishing their preparations and cutting the last of their ties. He, on the other hand, wanted to preserve the ties he had left.

He picked up Soma, carrying him on his back as he grabbed Sakuya into his arms. He carried them both back to the Den, unexpectedly meeting Kanon as he walked to the infirmary. She exclaimed "Lindow! You're alive!"

Lindow shook his head, saying quietly "No, I'm not. I've been infected, but it hasn't taken hold yet. These two were seriously injured. Could you please take care of them when you head to the space shuttle?"

Kanon widened her eyes in surprise, asking "How do you know about that, after being cut off for so long?" Lindow closed his eyes, sighing heavily, and said "Because it's all my fault. So many bad decisions, so many people I've abandoned. I can't live, knowing what I've done. Being infected was a blessing, in more ways than one."

Kanon was silent, quietly saying "Arashi told me . . . that Kama was dead earlier. Killed by Arda Nova. Is that true?" Her eyes looked to be on the verge of breaking into tears, and Lindow let the tears fall, nodding.

His tears weren't for him, however. They were for the necessity of the destruction of humanity on Terra by his hands. Arashi must've somehow known about Kama, and told Kanon he was dead so she didn't have to deal with hearing him being the destroyer of the world.

She fell to her knees, curling into a ball as she cried her heart out. Lindow felt her pain; He would have to leave behind Sakuya, watching her leave the planet as he aided in its destruction. She eventually stopped crying, sitting on the floor, immersed in her thoughts.

He quietly said "Tell her . . . that you saw me die. Please, I don't want her to keep waiting for me to come back. She deserves a better life." Kanon nodded, still silent, and took Soma from Lindow's back.

At that moment, Arashi walked in the infirmary. He stopped mid-stride, seeing Lindow, and his eyes narrowed in barely-disguised rage.

Lindow turned to look at him, saying "For what it's worth, Arashi, I'm truly sorry it had to end like this. I was infected far earlier, and I'm sorry that you had to see Kama die." He slightly narrowed his eyes, hoping Arashi got the message.

Arashi's eyes lost their hateful gaze, flicking to the ground, and he nodded. Lindow held Sakuya out in his grip, saying "Kanon will tell her that she saw me die. Make sure she lives a better life this time. I'm counting on you."

Arashi nodded, grabbing Sakuya and quietly telling Kanon "Let's go. The last shuttles are about to take off." Kanon nodded, tears in her eyes as she walked with Arashi, medical supplies on her back from returning to grab them.

Arashi turned back to Lindow, telling Kanon to keep going, and muttered when she was in the elevator and out of earshot "I'm not going to forgive you, nor am I going to excuse your actions. I just want a reason. Something, anything, to explain this madness."

Lindow smiled; a sad, fragile smile. He quietly told him "Nova has spoken, and all three pieces have answered. Regardless if the first had taken the second, and then convinced the third to accept."

Lindow let the tears run down his face, saying "This was not my choice, even though I am forced to obey. Nova cannot be ignored by the fragments she created."

Arashi looked downward, nodding forlornly, and whispered "Thank you . . . for explaining" as he walked down the hallway and entered the elevator. Lindow had never felt so alone, and yet it felt like a massive burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Now, he could obey Nova with as little regrets as possible. His beloved was safe, the ones he used to lead were safe, and the children of mankind would survive and live on elsewhere. Hopefully, they won't ever face another Aragami again.

He allowed the other presence on his mind, the infection that was transferred in the purification pod, to transform him into the Prince he was supposed to be.

His skin grew pitch black, scales running along his body as his clothes ripped from his expanding body. He was still human-sized, but his body did not resemble a human in any way.

He grew large, black wings that folded against his back from the room's confining space. His skin changed, resembling thick black leather. His arms lengthened, forming claws and resembling the arms of the dragons in Ancient Chinese mythology.

His legs thickened, toughened, and reshaped themselves as they fit the image of the new Aragami form. His feet enlarged, growing claws and gouging chunks out of the floor under him.

A smooth, echoing male voice sounded in his head. It spoke in a refined manner, completely unlike the guttural speech every other Aragami he communicated with had used.

_**Welcome to the triad, Lindow. My name is Omega, and I am royalty in the Aragami caste. Me and my brothers belong solely to Nova, and we have served her for an eternity. You may have been forced to cooperate, but I assure you that your previous friends, family, and close ones will not be harmed in any way.**_

Lindow opened his eyes, his dark brown eyes now surrounding a dragonic iris, and mentally asked _How can I be so sure? I have accepted my role and saved those I care for, but what proof could you offer me?_

An amused chuckle resounded in his mind as Omega said _**Nova Prime, the only true offspring of Nova, has no wish to anger her princes. We, being the previous consciousness of the princes, have no need to harm those that our host wishes to save.**_

_**If that does not assure you, then I swear by the essence of Nova that you shall not be betrayed by me, my brothers, or Nova Prime.**_

Lindow was quiet, scared for his friends and Sakuya but sensing the sincerity in Omega's voice. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, mentally saying _Alright. I'll take a leap of faith and trust you._

Omega made a satisfied hum and announced _**Thank you, Lindow. Now, we must depart this place and begin heading to the location. We cannot walk together, or we will awaken Nova before it is time. **_

_**Kama is returning to Nova Prime via the Caverns of Time, Kinaia is returning through the elevator shaft, and the last route is through the Battlegrounds, where Kama had slain the amplified Akantor. **_

_**We have a few hours left, and it is a long distance from here. We had best get moving.**_ Lindow nodded, heading to the elevator shaft, ripping the doors open, and flying upward to break through the rooftop.

With his wings extended, he travelled to the forest that housed the Everlasting Hurricane and flew straight into it, angling down and finding the hidden tunnel entrance. _Sakuya . . . I'm sorry, for everything. I always did love you, and I still do. Stay safe, and be strong._

* * *

Kama entered the Den, strangely empty with the Gods Eaters out helping the civilians evacuate. Kama could sense movement on a lower floor, around the rookie floor, and walked down the stairs to the veteran floor.

He glanced around, taking a moment to indulge in nostalgia. The familiar paths – now seeming foreign and lifeless. His old room – now locked. He stabbed through the lock with a bladed finger, opening the damaged door and gazing at his human belongings.

His bed was still unmade, the blankets thrown off the bed from his impromptu awakening this morning. _And to think, not even a week ago I was having fun with Kanon and the others, completely unaware that I was a piece of the harbinger of destruction._

The end of the world seemed like an abstract feeling. Kama didn't like it, but he knew it had to be done. Nova must make a stand against the humans who dared defy her, dared to defile and damage her, as well as the children they created from her genetics. She has ordered Kama to rise, so he shall rise.

Someone spoke behind him in a low tone, standing in the doorway as he said "Why are you back, Kama? I thought you were going with Kinaia and Lindow to kill us all." Kama sighed, turning to face Arashi. His head was angled downward, his eyes hidden by shadow.

"No, I don't want to kill you all. Aron will be sending a message to every terminal in every Den around the world with an ultimatum: You all have twenty four hours to either fight or escape. Neither choice is right, but neither are they wrong. We all have our choices; Fenrir made theirs, and now I'm making mine."

Arashi murmured "And if we don't escape? If we cling to the planet that is our homeworld? What then, Kama? Will you kill us all?" He glanced up, his face falsely blank as he said "Will you kill your friends? Your lover?"

Kama's eyes narrowed in frustration. "If you stay, then you will be killed when Nova awakens. Flee, build up your forces, and return to reclaim Terra. That is the best advice I can give you." he told Arashi, watching his hands curl into fists. He quickly walked into the room, gripping Kama's jacket collar and slamming him against the wall.

"Bullshit! This isn't your thinking, these aren't your wishes, it's Nova speaking through you! She is destroying the world, and you are following along like a puppet having its strings pulled! I don't even recognize you anymore, Kama!" he yelled, a tear leaking from his face.

He stopped to rub his eye, releasing Kama and whispering "I don't trust you anymore. I can't. Not like you are now."

Kama was silent, his face growing cold and harsh as his mind grew saddened. "Then escape. Escape, grow strong, and find your way back to Terra. End my existence, if you think I'm just a puppet. Cut my strings and allow the puppet to rest."

"Think for a second, though: If everything you knew was suddenly and drastically changed . . . If everyone you relied on to keep us alive was suddenly revealed to be planning to kill you behind your back . . . If every aspect of your life was put under a microscope and discovered to be completely hollow, the inside rotted to the core with doubt, suspicion, and paranoia . . . What would you do? What **can** you do? Who can you rely on, if not your superiors, your friends, even your lover?"

Arashi glared at Kama, staring fiery death at Kama. Kama shot the same look right back at him as he continued, "I was thrown away by those who swore to protect the human race; I was experimented on, made into a key when I could have easily, _**easily** _either died or been horribly mutilated. How can you trust someone who does that with no remorse or regrets, and who's done it hundreds of times before?"

Arashi whispered "You could've told me. You should've told your team, the ones you trust. You could've told Kanon. She loves you, for god's sakes."

He looked up, depression on his face as he said "I heard the discussion you had with Lindow and Kinaia. I saw your look of eagerness as Kinaia said the world would end later tonight. I came back up to help you, and I find out you want to destroy the fucking world!"

He stopped, calming down from the rapidly building anger. Arashi told him quietly "I told Kanon you were dead. I doubt she would want to see you when she learned that you wanted to destroy everything she strived to protect, as a God Eater and as a human being." He turned to walk out of the room, pausing at the doorway.

Without turning around, he quietly told him "Sera and Naoko are gone, already in the atmosphere in a space ship. They have no clue about any of this, since everyone was told that several nuclear plants were going critical, and the planet was to be evacuated to avoid nuclear fallout."

He turned his head, his eyes filled with hatred as he growled "I will return, as you asked. I will kill you, as you want. I hope you enjoy world domination, Kama Kotaku. I hope it was worth losing everything important." and walked out of the room, cracking Kama's mind into pieces at the same time.

Kama slowly walked to his bed, forcefully throwing himself onto the bed. He sat, staring at his hands as he took in Arashi's words.

_I have no place here. Nova will be victorious, but I lose everything and everyone. This . . . wasn't worth it. Not at all._

He partially clenched his hands, letting his human form fade into the darkness of his mind. The Aragami form inside him constantly pushed against his mind's barriers, unable to break through because Kama had not willed it to happen.

No, that is the wrong name now. He had no ties left to Kama.

He had no name, now. Kama Kotaku died this day, slaughtered by the betrayal of his superiors and the abandonment of those he once trusted, and a simple question arose from the ashes.

_Who am i? What am i? I cannot be a human; i have been cast aside by the only person i used to trust with my life._

_Who . . . am I, now? What should i call myself, now?_

He glanced into the mirror in his room, standing from the bed and watching as he accepted the infection that he had pushed away before, allowing it to take his human form and forge it into the image the Aragami chose.

His eyes – harsh and merciless as they closed, not wanting to look at his old form, yet feeling each new addition as the dragonic Aragami added more and more.

His body – dark and foreign; monstrous, powerful. So very powerful.

Wings sprouted from his back – large, clawed. Albino, divine and regal in design.

His body; human in size, but dragonic in shape.

Arms with white leathery skin, claws lining his hands, his arms growing thinner, the bones growing stronger.

His back; lined with spikes, shredding his old lucky jacket and revealing smooth gray scales underneath his clothes.

His head; four horns grew from his forehead and temples, angled backward to resemble a crown of dragonic magnificence.

His eyes, closed throughout the process, had opened when his transformation was complete.

He gazed into the mirror, marvelling his new body and his blood-red reptilian eyes, the pupils elongated and stretched as veins of fiery red radiated like cracks around his iris. He was complete. He was reformed, remade into a dragonic masterpiece of death and destruction.

_I know who i am, now. I am Chaos._

_**Welcome, my child. My name is Infinity, and my species form is called Fatalis. I am the elder brother of three, and the next to ascend to the title of Deity should Nova Prime fall. You have chosen your alliances wisely, and the goddess that created me shall praise your name for eternity.**_

Kama . . . No, Chaos . . . nodded, telepathically declaring his will.

The will of Nova, accepted and harnessed at last.

_**The end is near. We must meet with the others, for the humans have grown arrogant for the last time. This world is ours, and we shall take it back quickly, decisively, and ruthlessly. That is her will, and so it shall be done.**_

* * *

(Played this song from here until the end: /watch?v=5swXCzADtWc) (Youtube)

Aron stood in the large room, standing next to Nova Prime. His interface cords were connected to Nova Prime, communicating with her as he waited for the Triad to arrive.

Nova Prime knew of his intentions to influence Arashi's thoughts and effect Kama in a positive way, attempting to cause the Fragment of Will to rebel against his destiny. However, Aron underestimated the instability within Kama and ultimately failed in his mission.

_**It was a good attempt, Historian. Had Kama, now calling himself Nova, had a little more resistance to the fragment of my will, your plan may very well have succeeded. I admire your bravery for attempting this endeavor.**_

Aron lowered his head, saying "I have betrayed you, Nova, and I was prepared for the consequences since the moment I created the log. Lying to Arashi was necessary in order to sway his attitude, and I am ready for you to sentence me to death."

Nova chuckled, a pleasant feminine echo sounding like chimes, and responded _**Do not fret, Historian. If you had let Kama fulfill his destiny without interfering, I would have been disappointed in you for your lack of ambition. You have far more will than that. After all . . . Mother did create us at the same time.**_

He nodded his head, saying "True, sister. Although, you have expressed that biological ties will not sway your decisions. Why the sudden change?" He was very curious, now that he could think properly with Nova Prime's infinite understanding of all languages and speech patterns.

_**You know what my own creation, Evelyn, has predicted. The replacement core for our mother predicted everything that has occured, as well as what shall occur in the future. **_

_**Her own death, my rise, and the human's rise on the planet Gaia. She saw the humans who were native to Gaia, saw the two groups of humans interact with one another, advance each other's skills and technology by working together, and saw an eventual conflict between our race and the humans.**_

_**She refused to say the result of this conflict, however. Even when I demanded her to, she had told me that it was beyond her reach. These events are supposed to happen dozens of years into the future, and her reach is only twenty five years in advance.**_

Aron exclaimed "A war? What of our homeworld, Solara? Will they engage the humans as well, or be passive?" If their homeworld is targeted with a large enough force, they would have to return and defend it. There were many different ways they could be defeated, but also many different ways to emerge victorious.

_**Solara . . . will remain passive-aggressive, though they will send us enough genetic data to start evolving this planet from the burnt husk we must make it. We shall not lose, especially with the Triad as our alliance. Be sure to continue your recordings, however. I wish to document every detail of the end of the human hold, as well as the destruction of the children I was forced to create.**_

At that moment, large echoing footsteps were coming from the tunnel. It sounded like two pairs of footsteps, and Aron sensed Kinaia and Lindow approaching. They emerged, both having accepted Ragnarok and Omega respectively. For some reason, however, they were both in the relative shape of their previous forms.

Nova spoke, her calm questioning voice echoing in everyone's minds. _**Ragnarok, Omega. Why have you not completely forged your previous forms?**_

_**The Triad has come to a unanimous agreement. We are all weakened from the time we have spent aware and in control, serving you until we were forced to spiritualize our forms due to the humans, and we will only get weaker if we maintain control any longer. Infinity proposed that we allow the hosts to become self-controlling, self-aware, and give them all of our power while we rest,**_ Omega told her, privately telling Lindow to kneel in respect.

Ragnarok was silent, Kinaia announcing "_**Ragnarok has already fallen asleep, leaving me in control of this shared body. We shall not let you down, Nova Prime. You shall not be disappointed.**_" as she knelt on her knee and curled her left hand into a fist, placing it against her heart. It was obvious that Kinaia held complete loyalty to Nova, if her voice tone and actions were a good indicator.

They moved into the center of the room, allowing Kama to enter without resonating completely before they were prepared. His footsteps echoed in the hallway as he entered. His scales were a bright sheen of white, his horns regal, and his dragonic-altered voice authoritative. "_**Infinity has fallen asleep, my goddess. The time limit has expired, and most of the Fenrir military is still on the planet, assembling every weapon and missile they have. The time has come to awaken and unleash the purifying flames of Nova onto this pathetic, tainted planet.**_"

* * *

In the distance, far into the reaches of space, Sakaki watched from the viewport inside the shuttle he was put in and gazed upon Terra, watching the results of his actions. As he gazed at the planet, admiring it while it was still intact, a tiny flash was seen on a small piece of land.

He sighed, saying aloud "It's happening. Stay on course for Gaia." to the pilot as he watched the planet. The light grew in size, about as large as a pebble from space. As the light darkened to pitch black, a shockwave spread out from the source to reach across the entire planet.

Where the shockwave touched, the ground cracked and blackened, spots of red spreading as seismic activity raised lava currents to the surface. The blue seas of Terra's oceans quickly dissipated, revealing more reddish black ground as the oceans literally evaporated in seconds from heat equivalent to a supernova.

The dark light spread large, dark lines across the surface of what once was Terra. The lines spread like cracks in the ground, digging through the earth and spreading all along the planet like earthquake marks.

Mountains were leveled in the blink of an eye. New mountains formed as the enormous tentacles forcefully shoved tectonic plates against one another. Volcanoes formed quickly, lava flows disrupted and allowed to reach the surface. Everything destroyed, recreated, and destroyed again several times as Sakaki watched with dread.

The lines sprouting from the large orb grew thicker, even from Sakaki's view in space, and the large sphere where the crack-like lines radiated from grew to the size of a dime, visible from dozens of light-years away. A large orange orb slowly spread and formed inside the black sphere as the tentacles – the roots of the destroyer of worlds – grew longer, larger, and stronger.

Nova had awakened, and it was hungry.

Sakaki closed his eyes and hung his head, slamming his fist on his console in self-pity and anger. _All of this is my fault. I could've stopped it, could've done **something**, but I didn't do enough in time. I'm so very sorry, everyone._

The hundreds of shuttles, a couple dozen of which ruptured and destroyed by the shockwave, continued onward as the humans fled their homeworld, watching as it was burned and reformed. Sakaki sat back down, depression and regret flooding his gaze as they travelled farther and farther from the blackened husk of Terra . . .

* * *

Chaos emerged from the protective sphere Nova had created around the Triad, gazing upon the heat left behind in their immediate area and watching the lava flow from a pit far below them, possibly near the mantle of Terra.

Nothing remained the same as it was before Nova's purification. The cave system they had resonated in was completely obliterated; He was in a massive tunnel, staring up at the brown and red sky.

He turned to face Lindow and Kinaia, saying "Well, we got what we asked for. Complete and total obliteration of all traces of humans on Terra." He reached forward and dug his claws into the tunnel wall, making handholds to climb with as he said "Let's see what we have now. If it's as burned as Nova had said, then we shall have an enormous task to complete."

He climbed, not quite used to his wings yet, and glared at the last two friends he had as Kinaia and Lindow spread their wings and leapt in the air, flying directly upward and out of the hole. "Yeah, yeah, showoffs." he muttered, clawing his way out of the pit.

Chaos reached the surface after climbing a decent distance, silent as he gazed upon the blackened and scorched ground, taking in the enormity of the decision the three of them had made. Lindow whispered "All of those lives, all of their history and buildings. Gone, all because of us."

Kinaia narrowed her eyes, a satisfied growl eminating deep inside her chest as she said "Perfect. No more humans to interfere with Nova. Nothing standing in our way. We can finally live in peace, but so much more was also given to us."

Chaos announced in a confident voice "We are the only ones left who are able to change this husk of a planet. The conflict that Nova has had with the humans is finally over, and we can begin to rebuild. This planet . . . now belongs to Nova and her creations. Now, and forever more."

Kinaia, Lindow, and Chaos look at each other, solidifying their determination to create their ideal world from the ashes of a damaged one. They nodded, separating from each other and heading into completely different directions from one another.

They had work to do, and all the time in the world to do it.

* * *

A/N: And that is the first time I've completed a story, ever.

**(Edit)**: The sequel, Threads of Fate, is finally premiering it's first chapter! It will, sadly, be marked as a crossover fanfiction with the games "God Eater Burst" and "Monster Hunter" as the genres.

Tons of appreciation go to A Jack Frost Guy, patty1234554321, and Ganganto for their OCs (Arashi, Naoko, and Sera respectively), as well as the anonymous reviewer that gave me the Aragami OC, Aron. Even though I accidentally deleted the anonymous review while clearing out flames, you know who you are.

Cheers~

**Major Edit**: Epilogue was deleted due to plotline complications in Threads of Fate. I haven't forgotten about you guys, but school is kicking my arse hard. Next chapter is almost ready, so be patient...~


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